Courtroom politics: Judge who blocked Trump order a Democrat activist

President Trump blasted this as a case of “judge shopping”.

The judge who struck down a Trump administration crackdown on sanctuary cities is a hard-core Democrat activist whose life has been steeped in liberal politics since childhood.

Judge William Orrick III, 63, who on Tuesday blocked the administration from withholding federal funds from cities that don’t cooperate with federal immigration officials, attended the landmark 1968 Democratic National Convention as a teen and more recently raised money for 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry.

“I will not let my personal views interfere with the administration of justice,” Orrick assured lawmakers in 2013, when he was confirmed as a federal judge on the District of Northern California. “I have never let my political beliefs affect my legal judgment, and believe that politics have no place in the courtroom.”

On Tuesday, in a suit brought by San Francisco and Santa Clara, Calif., Orrick blocked President Trump’s executive order withholding funding from sanctuary cities, saying the president lacked the authority to attach new conditions to federal spending.

“He’s definitely one of the more openly liberal leaning judges on the bench based on several rulings he’s made over the years.”

– Attorney who has argued cases before Orrick

But Orrick’s latest ruling, which Trump blasted as a case of “judge shopping” in a Wednesday tweet, and a prior ruling granting Planned Parenthood an injunction barring the Center for Medical Progress from releasing damning undercover videotapes of the abortion provider’s employees and contractors, have raised questions about his impartiality.

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