EDITORIAL: Swift justice displeases a Colorado federal judge

The Trump administration ordered payroll cuts to the bloated federal bureaucracy, and Colorado sued. The administration tried to rein in a runaway budget by paring funding for public broadcasters — which Congress ultimately carried out — and Colorado sued again.
And just this week, a prominent, left-leaning Colorado federal judge lashed out at President Trump’s Justice Department over its “bad faith conduct” — for scheduling an alleged illegal immigrant’s deportation hearing just a day after he challenged his detention in court.
Heavens — we can’t have speedy justice!
In other words, the administration is taking a beating from our state’s ruling class for doing the very things everyday Coloradans have always said they want the federal government to do: tighten its belt, work a little harder and, if it’s not too much to ask, move a bit faster. Go figure.
As reported by our news affiliate Colorado Politics, lawyers for Jesus Morales Lopez filed a “habeas corpus” petition earlier this month challenging his confinement at the federal immigration detention facility in Aurora. The next day, the U.S. attorney scheduled a separate hearing at which Morales Lopez could be ordered deported from the country. His attorney then sought a temporary restraining order in federal court so the habeas case could be decided first.
In a ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez in Denver acknowledged that Morales Lopez waited a full eight days before bothering to file for a restraining order after learning of his deportation hearing. And the judge ultimately denied the request for a restraining order — finding, “Morales Lopez’s habeas petition — which challenges only the legality of his detention — has little to no nexus to the relief he actually requests in his motion — which concerns only the merits of his underlying immigration case.” The ruling further noted, “Morales Lopez’s habeas petition does not call into question the notion that respondents can legally initiate his Individual hearing and seek his removal.”
But that didn’t stop Martinez — a former poverty and civil rights lawyer appointed to the federal bench under Democratic President Barack Obama — from using the ruling as a platform to blast the Trump administration’s approach to immigration policy.
“As an initial matter, the court notes that it is very troubled by the fact that Morales Lopez’s individual hearing was set so quickly after he initiated this habeas action,” Martínez wrote. “The abrupt timing of this scheduling strongly suggests to the court that it was taken by respondents in retaliation of Morales Lopez pursuing a judicial proceeding.”
Yet, Martinez didn’t try to stop the federal proceeding; he pointed out it was all perfectly legal, and he noted, “Morales Lopez has not shown that he will be harmed by the court not resolving his detention issue before the individual hearing occurs.”
The judge evidently just didn’t like the swiftness of justice in this case — calling it “abrupt timing” that “strongly suggests” retaliation. Perhaps Martinez pines for the days when immigration proceedings — like the rest of the justice system and the federal government in general — dragged its feet.
More likely, Martinez takes a dim view of an administration that said it would hit the ground running on illegal immigration — and has done exactly what it promised.