WASHINGTON

A federal court in the state of Maine ruled Friday that President Donald Trump's effort to slap sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) likely violates the US Constitution, blocking penalties from being implemented on Americans.

US District Judge Nancy Torresen issued a preliminary injunction after two human rights advocates filed suit, saying Trump's February executive order that established the sanctions likely run afoul of free speech protections enshrined in the First Amendment.

"The Executive Order appears to burden substantially more speech than necessary. Accordingly, the Plaintiffs have established likely success on the merits of their First Amendment challenge," wrote Torresen.

The case was brought by a pair of human rights advocates, Matthew Smith and Akila Radhakrishnan, who said that following Trump's order they were forced to halt their work with the court on fears that they would be subject to US penalties associated with the sanctions if they continued.

Torresen's preliminary injunction prohibits Trump from imposing any such penalties on US individuals who work with the international court.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which had represented Smith and Radhakrishnan in court, lauded the ruling.

“Preventing our clients and others like them from doing critical human rights work with the ICC is unconstitutional, and we’re heartened that the court saw that as well,” said Charlie Hogle, a staff attorney with the ACLU. “The First Amendment does not allow the government to impose sweeping limits on what Americans can say and who they can say it to.”

The ICC was formed in 1998 by an international treaty known as the Rome Statute. While the US remains a non-signatory, several administrations of the Democratic and Republican parties have supported its work, including former President Joe Biden, who provided evidence to the court of alleged war crimes committed by Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Trump sanctioned the court in February after issuing a nearly identical executive order during his first term that was similarly enjoined in 2021 before President Joe Biden rescinded the order.