10 Hidden Facts About Hon. James L.

Robart The Travel Ban Judge

Judge James L. Robart shot into lime light with his recent ruling on President Trump travel ban in
which he ruled for a 14 days stay of execution of the travel ban. Judge Robart an amiable and
quiet fellow, is usually press shy. He had had one or two other rulings that had brought him to
public attention but none has been as political as this travel ban ruling. This has brought him into
direct confrontation with the President of the United States, President Donald Trump. You may
have read about this ruling but do not know anything about Judge James L. Robart . The following
lines shows 10 not so public facts about the federal Judge Hon. James L. Robart.

10. Fairness

To help the disenfranchised with the court system Judge James L. Robart has always shown a
passion for helping the helpless to get a fair hearing and legal justice. This led him to take up the
job of representing South East Asian refugees who were being taken to court about their
immigration status. In his congress confirmation hearing he echoed this sense of fairness quite
clearly. He said, I think in terms of--if I am fortunate enough to be confirmed by the Senate, I will take that
experience to the courtroom with me, recognize that you need to treat everyone with dignity and with respect,
and to engage them so that when they leave the courtroom they feel like they had a fair trial and that they were
treated as a participant in the system.

9. A Good Judicial Officer And Sensitive Listener

Judge James L. Robart is a professional judicial officer who takes extra care to balance the law
interpretation and human feelings. He goes through a lot of information from many sources to
get a complete view of the case he is handling. Judge James L. Robart is very sensitive to
peoples feelings and takes extra care to listen to all the parties and show professionalism in any
case he is handling. In the case the Washington state brought against the travel ban he ruled
based on whether it has immediate and irreparable injury to people. Judge James L. Robart is always
centering his rulings not on some abstract constitutional interpretation but on how much it would help the
parties involved to feel that they got a fair experience when they go through the court process.

8. A Family Builder

Judge James L. Robart got married to Mari Jalbing his wife in 1980. Though he has no biological
child, he is foster father to six children he adopted from the Children Homes he is involved with.
His dedication to helping the helpless is practically demonstrated here in bringing these children
to his home to mold their character and give them a good future. He is a great family builder
using his home to build up these children that would tomorrow become great men and women of
America. He is not one to discriminate anyone based on class, color or race. These children and
even his wife are from Asia. This quality of his was responsible for his work with South East Asian
refugees when he was working with the private law firm Evergreen Legal Services. His children
are sent to good schools and given the best care.

7. Compassionate Judge

It takes a compassionate heart to work with Childrens Homes and that is what the Hon. Judge
James L. Robart has set himself to doing. He is spending his time to work on the board of
Children Homes like Seattle Children Home that offers mental health services and special
education for the most at risk youth. And also with Childrens Home Society of Washington which
provides parenting skills for troubled families. A lot of families in the Washington area go to this
Childrens Home Society to get youth psychology training, youth discipline and character
molding training, youth and drug abuse training and a lot other training parent would need to
bring up their children properly. The following are the other boards he has been working with:
Chair of the Board of Trustees, Whitman College; Former Chair, Board of Overseers, Whitman
College; Former President and Trustee, Seattle Childrens Home; Former Member, State Advisory
Board and Former Trustee, Childrens Home Society of Washington.

6. Good Sense Of Humor

At the hearing for the case for and against the travel ban order Judge James L. Robart displayed
his sense of humor when he said The amicus law professors, sounds like the three amigos. This
made the parties to laugh despite the tension at the courtroom at Seattle on that Friday. This
gesture of Judge Robart is symbolic in that he was passing the message to the plaintiff and the
defender that legal justice process is not designed to make them enemies but friends. The ruling
he gives is a way of saying this is what the law says lets align our actions with it. He goes out the
extra mile to make sure he touches the feelings of the parties brought before him in a positive
way whether the ruling goes their way or against them. The use of this kind of soft power helps
people to appreciate the legal process better and feel eager to use the courts to resolve issues.
This would help to reduce frustration among the people with the United States court processes.

5. Bold And Courageous

A United States attorney who had the experience of coming under Judge James L. Robarts ruling
has this to say about the judge. I have felt Judge Robarts wrath and also had rulings that went
my way she said. Hes going to make the ruling he thinks is the right ruling and not worry
about who disagrees with him, even the President of the United States. On the day he delivered
the travel ban ruling he had this to say A judges job, Judge Robart said, is not to judge the
wisdom of any policy, but only whether it was legal. He would not even do that at the moment,
he said, but merely consider whether President Donald Trumps order should be blocked
temporarily to prevent immediate and irreparable injury to the people it affects. Judge Robart
took his time to study the order he wrote many times before finally looking down at his papers
and issued his order.

4. Integrity

Judge James L. Robarts integrity in his work in the justice department is has been vindicated by
ruling of the three judge panel at the 9 th U S Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco last week
which upheld the travel ban earlier made by Judge Robart. Part of the ruling reads We hold that
the Government has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its appeal, nor has it
shown that failure to enter a stay would cause irreparable injury, and we therefore deny its
emergency motion for a stay, said Judge Michelle Friedland, Judge William Canby Jr, and Judge
Richard Cliftons 29-page ruling. The American people has an interest in free flow of travel, in
avoiding separation of families, and in freedom from discrimination, the judges added in the 3-0
decision. Here again we see the principle of sensitivity to the peoples feelings being considered
in this ruling. According to Attorney General Xavier Becerra 15 other states have joined the state
of California to filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in State of
Washington v. Trump, a case opposing the Trump Administrations unconstitutional and un-
American travel ban. Attorney General Xavier Bacerra released the following statements On
behalf of the nearly 40 million people of California, I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with attorneys
general in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico,
New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, and the District of Columbia, in
filing an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to preserve the suspension of the
Trump Administration's travel ban Judge James L. Robart is being vindicated.

3. Thoroughness

On a case alleging the use of excessive force by the Seattle Police Department (SPD) brought by
the United States of America against it, Judge James L. Robart was quoted as saying Black Lives
Matter, after citing some reports on blacks and police deaths throughout the country. He
particularly displayed his thoroughness when he quoted an FBI statistics that stated 41%
casualities, 21% of the population. In this quote he brought out the fact that it was not fair to
have 41% deaths from a group in the country who are only 21% of the population. He prepares
for his rulings with great care and thoroughness. The SPD could not defend their actions against
blacks with the FBI statistics he presented. He also went out of his way to propose police
retraining and re-education to for the police to meet the challenges presented by contemporary
Seattle city policing.

2. Thoughtfulness

As a federal judge overseeing the draft review of the Seattle Police Department, he took time to
point the way forward for the Community Police Commission (CPC) though he felt that it had
gone too far by saying Some of your provisions cross the line. He would not find the CPC in
Contempt. Judge James L. Robart showed his trait of giving human feeling to the courtroom
process by setting aside the contempt ruling and instead took the pain to explain that the lives
of both police and citizens were at stake and the end results expected of the CPC was to bring
out a document that would reduce or eliminate unnecessary deaths in policing methods. At the
end of the draft review process the CPC made a commitment to rewrite the draft. He is not a
judge that uncaringly passes rulings without thinking of the feelings of the two parties.

1. Temperance

With all the attacks on Judge James L. Robart from the United States executive, his only reply has
been that his duty as a federal law officer is to interpret the law so that it doesnt disadvantage
the other party. As stated above his goal in the courtroom is to bring the experience that you
need to treat everyone with respect and dignity and to engage people so that when they leave
the courtroom they feel like they had a fair trial and that the legal process has treated them well.
He has a good sense of self control. He is not one to bask in the euphoria of press or media blitz
or sensation. He is continuing his justice department work quietly and dedicatedly without giving
any time to bogus press conferences or social media engagements. Like other times when the
media had gotten involved in his rulings he has maintained a low profile not talking to the media
about his rulings.