The decision marked the first time a federal judge permanently blocked the Trump administration from enforcing an order to punish law firms he opposes politically.
A federal judge ruled on Friday that an executive order President Trump signed in March targeting the law firm Perkins Coie was unconstitutional and directed the government not to enforce its terms, which had threatened to upend the firm’s business.
The ruling was the first time a court had stepped in to permanently bar Mr. Trump from trying to punish a law firm he opposes politically.
Skipping a trial and moving directly to a final ruling, Judge Beryl A. Howell of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia wrote that attempts to bring the firm to heel under the threat of retaliation amounted to unlawful coercion, and imperiled its lawyers’ ability to freely practice law.
“No American president has ever before issued executive orders like the one at issue,” she wrote, adding, “In purpose and effect, this action draws from a playbook as old as Shakespeare, who penned the phrase: ‘The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.’”
The lawsuit was the first of four similar cases to reach a resolution. Lawyers representing the firm had argued that the nature of the president’s order was so obviously coercive that minimal time was needed to assess its illegality.
They argued, and Judge Howell agreed, that the order clearly violated the First and Fifth Amendments, denying Perkins Coie and other similarly situated firms freedom “to think and speak as they wish” and equal protection under the law.