Circuit Judge Neomi Rao, writing for the court, said the district court had committed a "clear abuse of discretion" by expanding its investigation into Executive Branch deliberations after the government identified former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as the official responsible for the transfer decision. A prior D.C. Circuit panel had vacated an earlier probable cause order in the same matter.
"The widening gyre of the district court's investigation again calls for the extraordinary remedy of mandamus to halt the judicial 'impairment of another branch in the performance of its constitutional duties,'" Rao wrote, quoting Cheney v. U.S. District Court.
The contempt inquiry concerned whether the government violated a temporary restraining order issued the evening of March 15, 2025, by transferring detainees who were already in flight to the custody of Salvadoran authorities at the Center for Terrorism Confinement. The Supreme Court later vacated the TRO on venue grounds, holding the plaintiffs' claims belonged in habeas in the district of confinement.
The majority concluded the written TRO, which enjoined the government "from removing members of [the] class (not otherwise subject to removal) pursuant to the Proclamation for 14 days," lacked the clarity required to support criminal contempt for transferring custody. "Criminal contempt cannot lie for transferring custody when the TRO was entirely 'silent' as to that requirement," Rao wrote.
Circuit Judge Justin Walker concurred, writing separately to emphasize the district court's statement at the March 15 hearing that "I will issue a minute order memorializing this so you don't have to race to write it down." In Walker's view, that line "made the written order supersede the oral order," resolving the case on narrow, fact-specific grounds.
Circuit Judge Michelle Childs dissented at length, arguing the panel had short-circuited a criminal proceeding before it began. "Contempt of court is a public offense, and the fate of our democratic republic will depend on whether we treat it as such," she wrote. Childs said the majority had decided "this case on the merits of a contempt prosecution and conviction that have not occurred" and accused her colleagues of choosing "the Government's Hail Mary pass."
Childs also questioned the panel's jurisdiction to review what she characterized as an interlocutory factfinding order, noting the district court was conducting hearings to "better understand the bases of the decision to transfer the deportees out of United States custody" before deciding whether to make a referral for prosecution. She said the trial court had "dutifully and carefully started on a clean slate" after the first mandamus.
The petition was filed by Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate. Counsel including Lee Gelernt, Cody Wofsy and Patrick Toomey opposed on behalf of the detainees.