Federal Courts In NJ Pause Cases Amid Legal Challenge To Habba’s Authority

Federal criminal proceedings across New Jersey were canceled Monday over questions regarding the authority of the acting U.S. attorney, Alina Habba, who was named to the post by the Trump administration last week, The New York Times reported.

Federal court hearings, grand jury proceedings, plea deals, et al., were all put on hold amid a challenge to Habba’s authority to serve as acting U.S. attorney. A drug trial that was set to begin in Camden, New Jersey, on Aug. 4 was moved to Pennsylvania after a lawyer for one of the defendants filed a motion last week claiming Habba’s appointment was unconstitutional.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Maria Noto, former president of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey, told the Times. “It seems as if anyone who had anything scheduled has heard that whatever proceeding they had had been adjourned with no new date for now.”

At issue is that the Trump administration removed Habba from consideration for the permanent job of U.S. attorney for the New Jersey district in order to name her acting U.S. attorney after the Department of Justice fired Desiree Grace, who was set to take over for Habba in the role of interim U.S. attorney. Habba’s term as interim had expired, and New Jersey’s Federal District Court judges selected Grace, the top deputy to Habba.

The DOJ then appointed Habba to the role of top deputy, later elevating her to acting U.S. attorney, which runs afoul of a federal statute that bars candidates from serving as acting U.S. attorney if they had been nominated for the permanent post.

Shortly after Habba was named acting U.S. attorney, a criminal defense attorney filed a motion for dismissal of drug charges against his client, claiming that Habba’s authority was “unconstitutional.”