HOUSTON, United States

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit by the Trump administration brought against all 15 federal district judges in the US state of Maryland, according to multiple media reports.

The suit was initiated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier this year and sought to limit court power in Maryland for fast-moving immigration cases.

US District Judge Thomas Cullen, who was appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, wrote in his ruling that the Justice Department could not pursue a "constitutional free-for-all" that intentionally tried to smear the justice system.

"Over the past several months, principal officers of the Executive (and their spokespersons) have described federal district judges across the country as 'left-wing,' 'liberal,' 'activists,' 'radical,' 'politically minded,' 'rogue,' 'unhinged,' 'outrageous, overzealous, (and) unconstitutional,' '(c)rooked,' and worse," wrote Cullen.

"Although some tension between the coordinate branches of government is a hallmark of our constitutional system, this concerted effort by the Executive to smear and impugn individual judges who rule against it is both unprecedented and unfortunate," he continued.

Cullen added that the DOJ lacked the legal right to bring the challenge and that the Maryland judges are immune from such suits brought by the executive branch.

"Any fair reading of the legal authorities cited by Defendants leads to the ineluctable conclusion that this court has no alternative but to dismiss," he said.

"To hold otherwise would run counter to overwhelming precedent, depart from longstanding constitutional tradition, and offend the rule of law.”

The Justice Department had argued that the automatic orders from the Maryland court in certain immigration cases were unlawful because they did not involve the usual analysis by a judge to determine whether such a temporary block against a removal was warranted. Cullen rebuked that argument.

"Dismissal of the Executive’s suit is appropriate because it has not pointed to a cause of action that permits this court to entertain a lawsuit between two coordinate branches of government, and this court will not be the first to create one," said Cullen.

"Much as the Executive fights the characterization, a lawsuit by the executive branch of government against the judicial branch for the exercise of judicial power is not ordinary," he said.

"Whatever the merits of its grievance with the judges of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, the Executive must find a proper way to raise those concerns," Cullen concluded.