An Obama-appointed judge who recently ruled against a key provision of the Laken Riley Act repeatedly donated to Democratic causes and candidates, according to a Washington Examiner review of campaign finance records.
Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee previously under fire for blocking Planned Parenthood’s federal de-funding, handed down a decision Friday declaring a criminally accused illegal immigrant’s mandatory detention under the Laken Riley Act unconstitutional.
The law, named after Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was murdered by an illegal immigrant, requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to detain noncitizens accused of theft-related offenses and are unlawfully residing in the United States.
In a 21-page ruling, Talwani found that ICE holding an 18-year-old migrant arrested on charges of shoplifting without a bond hearing violated his due process rights.
“Here, the public has no interest in the detention without bond of someone against whom no criminal charges are pending and who is an active member in his community,” she said.
Talwani’s order marked a major victory for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, which had filed the habeas corpus petition on behalf of the Guatemalan national who illegally entered the U.S. President Donald Trump, ICE’s acting director Todd Lyons, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem were named as respondents in the case.
Talwani is a longtime Democratic donor with a track record of ruling against Republican-aligned plaintiffs.
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Before her judicial appointment in 2013 by former President Barack Obama, Talwani donated multiple times to Democrats, including Obama, while an organized labor lawyer at the Boston-based Segal Roitman, the largest law firm in New England exclusively representing labor unions.
Federal Election Commission filings show that Talwani financially supported Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), when she had first sought her Senate seat in 2012; Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign; and the 2004 White House run of ex-Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), later Obama’s secretary of state and former President Joe Biden’s presidential envoy for climate policy.
Talwani also donated to the Democratic National Committee during the 2010 midterm election cycle ahead of a red wave, which regained the GOP majority in the House. At the time, Democrats had unified control of Congress and the presidency.
In addition to the $1,000 she gave Kerry, the judge made small donations of $50 to $200.
As a federal judge, Talwani has a history of siding with liberal litigants, including in immigration cases.
In April, Talwani temporarily halted Trump’s order to terminate the Biden-era parole program of 530,000 foreign nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
“If their parole status is allowed to lapse, Plaintiffs will be faced with two unfavorable options: continue following the law and leave the country on their own, or await removal proceedings,” Talwani ruled in response.
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In July, Talwani blocked Congress from defunding Planned Parenthood through Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” after the top U.S. abortion provider launched a lawsuit challenging the funding cuts authorized by the GOP megabill.
Against congressional action, Talwani issued an injunction directing the Department of Health and Human Services to “take all steps necessary to ensure” that Medicaid funds continued to be disbursed to Planned Parenthood.
“Planned Parenthood Federation’s mission is to ensure that people receive high-quality, inclusive, and comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare,” she said in a follow-up filing.
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In a 2023 free speech case concerning gender ideology, Talwani ruled that a Massachusetts school district was right to prohibit a 12-year-old student from wearing a T-shirt that said, “There are only two genders,” because the piece of clothing created an “unsafe” setting for other classmates with differing identities.
“Plaintiff … is unable to counter Defendants’ showing that enforcement of the Dress Code was undertaken to protect the invasion of the rights of other students to a safe and secure educational environment,” Talwani wrote.
“School administrators were well within their discretion to conclude that the statement ‘THERE ARE ONLY TWO GENDERS’ may communicate that only two gender identities—male and female—are valid, and any others are invalid or nonexistent,” she said, “and to conclude that students who identify differently, whether they do so openly or not, have a right to attend school without being confronted by messages attacking their identities.”
The Washington Examiner contacted Talwani for comment.
