A federal judge in Maine has issued a ruling barring the Trump administration from enforcing sanctions against two U.S. human rights advocates who work with the International Criminal Court (ICC), citing violations of the First Amendment.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen, appointed by President Obama, sided with plaintiffs Matthew Smith and Akila Radhakrishnan, who filed suit in April against President Donald Trump and top officials over Executive Order 14203. That order—issued by President Trump in response to ICC investigations of U.S. and Israeli personnel—authorizes sanctions and criminal penalties against individuals providing certain services to the court’s Office of the Prosecutor (OTP).
Smith and Radhakrishnan argued the order violated their constitutional right to free speech. Smith’s work centers on atrocity crimes against the Rohingya people in Myanmar and Bangladesh, while Radhakrishnan focuses on gender-based violence in Afghanistan—areas unrelated to U.S. or Israeli nationals.
In her 16-page order, Judge Torresen agreed, writing that the executive order “appears to burden substantially more speech than necessary.” She added that the government failed to explain how services related to prosecutions in Asia would undermine U.S. or Israeli interests.
The Justice Department had defended the order as a necessary national security tool to shield American and allied personnel from unauthorized international prosecution. But the court rejected that reasoning, finding it overly broad and inconsistent with the plaintiffs’ work.
“The Government is hereby enjoined from imposing civil or criminal penalties on the Plaintiffs under Executive Order 14203,” the judge ruled.
Notably, the court did not address the plaintiffs’ additional claim that the executive order exceeded the president’s authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Judge Torresen emphasized that First Amendment rights are not to be cast aside in the name of vague foreign policy concerns. “The Government does not explain how the Plaintiffs’ continued services to the Prosecutor concerning atrocities in Bangladesh, Myanmar, or Afghanistan would impede national security and foreign policy interests,” she concluded.
The ruling is a setback for the administration’s efforts to limit American cooperation with the ICC, particularly as President Trump continues to denounce the court’s investigations of Israel and the United States.
