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Article snippet: WASHINGTON — President Trump’s revised travel ban faced its first appellate test on Monday, in oral arguments that started at 2:30 p.m. before a 13-judge panel of the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va. The ban restricts travel from six predominantly Muslim countries. Several groups and individuals sued to block it, saying it amounted to religious discrimination. They pointed to statements by Mr. Trump and his advisers, during the presidential campaign and afterward, referring to a “Muslim ban.” In March, federal judges in Maryland and Hawaii blocked parts of the executive order, saying they could not turn a blind eye to the remarks from Mr. Trump and his allies. “Simply because a decision maker made the statements during a campaign does not wipe them” from judicial memory, Judge Theodore D. Chuang of Federal District Court in Maryland wrote in the decision under review by the appeals court. The court hearing the case on Monday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, did not follow its usual practices in considering the appeal. Ordinarily, a three-judge panel would have heard the case and decided it, with the possibility of full-court review afterward. Skipping that step and scheduling arguments before the full court signaled the exceptional importance of the case. Nine of the judges who heard Monday’s arguments were appointed by Democratic presidents and three by Republican ones. Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory was initially appointed by Pres... Link to the full article to read more