A federal judge in Nashville has dismissed the Justice Department’s criminal case against Kilmar Ábrego García, concluding that the prosecution was vindictive and retaliatory. The ruling stands out because it does more than reject a charging decision on ordinary sufficiency grounds: it ties the government’s criminal case to Ábrego García’s success in challenging his earlier removal to El Salvador.

That makes the opinion especially notable for litigators watching the boundary between aggressive prosecution and unconstitutional retaliation.