Opinion

JONATHAN TURLEY: Judge Boasberg whines about Trump’s power and then gets caught exceeding his own

Two groups were arrested for writing pro-life messages while BLM messages went untouched.

By Jonathan Turley Fox News

Published July 22, 2026 12:31pm EDT

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Chief Judge James Boasberg is frustrated ... and he is not alone. Recently, the D.C. federal judge reportedly groused that the D.C. appellate court had ordered him to reconsider a case about whether the D.C. government engaged in biased enforcement against political graffiti. Conversely, the litigants are equally irked over what they see as Boasberg's bias after he responded by, again, dismissing their claims without a trial.

For a second time, Boasberg has barred pro-life groups from access to a jury after members were arrested for writing in chalk, "Black Pre-Born Lives Matter" on a sidewalk while Black Lives Matter writings were left untouched.

I wrote earlier about the emerging body of "Boasberg's Law," cases in which the judge has increasingly shown an untethered and expansive view of his own authority. Recently, Boasberg was found to have committed an "abuse of discretion" in twice finding that the Trump administration was in contempt of court for failing to turn around deportation flights.

DC APPEALS COURT ORDERS JUDGE BOASBERG TO HALT TRUMP CONTEMPT PROBE OVER DEPORTATION FLIGHTS

My disagreements with Boasberg are not over the underlying issues, but rather the court's rejection of basic limits on its own authority. While chastising President Donald Trump for exceeding his authority, Boasberg has been reversed for exceeding his own.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is seen in an official portrait in Washington, D.C., on March 16, 2023. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

In the earlier case, Boasberg dismissed grand jury subpoenas in the probe of Fed Chair Jerome Powell. I have been critical of that probe, but Boasberg's refusal to allow the subpoenas to be executed was based on an........

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