Federal Judge Hanen is here to kick ass and chew bubblegum...and he's almost out of bubblegum.

Judge Andrew Hanen

If you weren't aware, there's a case pending in Federal Court (in Texas) about the questionable legality of President Obama's action to grant legal status to illegal aliens.

At the initial stage of the suit the Judge asked the Government if it was going to be necessary to issue a temporary injunction on the issue, which would halt the issuance of green cards while the case was pending. Basically, the lawyers for the Government said "Oh no, Judge Hanen. That's not necessary. There's no need for a formal injunction. We'll just voluntarily hold off on doing anything for now. You've got our word on that."

And then Obama issued some green cards to illegal aliens under the program. As you can imagine, Judge Hanen was understandably miffed. He (rightly) felt like he had been misled by the lawyers for the Government. So, he issued a formal injunction. Problem solved, right? No one would violate an existing Federal Court's order.

But that's exactly what DHS did. They issued some more green cards after the injunction.

So now, Judge Hanen, having been tricked once, is now requiring that each individual defendant named in the suit personally appear in his courtroom at the next hearing to explain why they shouldn't be held in contempt.

Quoting from the order:

Nevertheless, it is shocked and surprised at the cavalier attitude the Government has taken with regard to its “efforts” to rectify this situation. The Government promised this Court on May 7, 2015, that “immediate steps” were being taken to remedy the violations of the injunction. Yet, as of June 23, 2015—some six weeks after making that representation—the situation had not been rectified. With that in mind, the Court hereby sets a hearing for August 19, 2015, at 10:00 a.m.

Each individual Defendant must attend and be prepared to show why he or she should not be held in contempt of Court. In addition to the individual Defendants, the Government shall bring all relevant witnesses on this topic as the Court will not continue this matter to a later date. The Government has conceded that it has directly violated this Court’s Order in its May 7, 2015 Advisory, yet, as of today, two months have passed since the Advisory and it has not remediated its own violative behavior. That is unacceptable and, as far as the Government’s attorneys are concerned, completely unprofessional.

(emphasis mine)

Here's the part I like:

If the Government remedies this situation and comes into compliance with this Court’s injunction by July 31, 2015, it shall include a summary of that situation in the July 31, 2015 report to the Court. If the Court is satisfied with the Government’s representations, it will cancel the August 19, 2015 hearing. Otherwise, the Court intends to utilize all available powers to compel compliance.

(again, emphasis mine)

Let me do my lawyer thing and explain to you what that last sentence really means. What it really means is "If y'all don't get this situation fixed, someone's ass is probably going to jail."

Criminal defense lawyers have a saying that applies to legal ethics, when they get asked to do something shady to protect a client. Someone might be going to jail, but if someone is going to jail, just make sure it isn't you. All I can say is that I would be working night and day to get this fixed if I were one of the named Defendants and/or their lawyers.

If they don't, the hearing on August 19 is going to be mighty interesting.