Judge exceeded authority by ordering ethics classes for possibly 3,000 DOJ lawyers, brief says; ABA Journal, 5/31/16

Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal; Judge exceeded authority by ordering ethics classes for possibly 3,000 DOJ lawyers, brief says:

"The U.S. Justice Department is asking a federal judge to stay his unusual order requiring department lawyers who appear in any court in 26 states to take ethics classes for alleged misrepresentations in a major immigration case.

The Justice Department brief filed on Tuesday argues that the sweeping sanctions imposed earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville, Texas, “far exceed the bounds of appropriate remedies.”

The Justice Department brief argues that Hanen “has no inherent authority to superimpose additional ethics-training requirements” on more than 3,000 Justice Department attorneys who are unconnected to the immigration case before Hanen. In addition, the brief argues, Hanen’s order interferes with the Attorney General’s executive authority and violates the separation of powers.

Hanen had found Justice Department lawyers made misrepresentations concerning the implementation date of President Obama’s deferred deportation program. According to Hanen, Justice Department lawyers asserted the deferred deportation program would not be implemented until February 2015, even though the government had already expanded deportation deferrals from two to three years for more than 100,000 immigrants...

Hanen’s May 19 sanctions order required any Justice Department lawyers who want to appear in the 26 states challenging the deferred deportations to attend an annual ethics course for the next five years. Hanen also ordered Attorney General Loretta Lynch to develop a “comprehensive plan” to prevent future unethical conduct."