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FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

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Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#131

Post by armchairhacker »

kemayo wrote: post #16

> He accused Dugan of “intentionally misdirecting” federal agents who arrived at the courthouse to detain an immigrant who was set to appear before her in an unrelated proceeding. It sounds like the arrest isn't because of any official act of the judge, but rather over them either not telling the ICE agents where the person was or giving them the wrong information about their location. There are some pretty broad law…

This sounds like a case in Trump’s first term. I don’t condone the arrest, but to provide context:

> In April [2019], [Shelley Joseph] and a court officer, Wesley MacGregor, were accused of allowing an immigrant to evade detention by arranging for him to sneak out the back door of a courthouse. The federal prosecutor in Boston took the highly unusual step of charging the judge with obstruction of justice…

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/16/us/shelley-joseph-immigra... (https://archive.ph/gByeV)

EDIT: Although Shelly Joseph wasn’t arrested, only charged.

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#132

Post by JKCalhoun »

typeofhuman wrote: post #90
JKCalhoun wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Federal agents have been using this to charge people for nearly a century Using it on judges?

Being a judge might just be circumstantial (sensational?). The arrest may be because of the person's personal actions; not their professional actions as a judge.

But I imagine arresting a judge requires an extra level of discretion. At the very least it's going to be a PR problem if it is found to be unwarranted.

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#133

Post by GuinansEyebrows »

mbrumlow wrote: post #74
jldugger wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even if I wanted to arrest a sitting judge, it would have to be an act of gross malfeasance to motivate me to even consider arrest. This logic projects rationality onto an administration that does not merit such assumptions.

I think it’s more weird that the person being a “sitting judge” is any party of the equation. At the end of the day judges are just people. I would be more worried about a system that proceeded differently because they were a judge.

Judges are "just people" that make up the only one of three branches of government that seems interested in maintaining a system of checks and balances.

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#135

Post by californical »

kemayo wrote: post #93
mjburgess wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. It isnt clear ICE agents have any legal authority to demand a judge tell them anything. 2. It is highly likely this is an official act, since it would be taken on behalf of court, so the immigrant can give, eg. testimony in a case. A "private act" here would be the judge lying in order to prevent their deportation because they as a private person wanted to do so. It seems highly unlikely that this is the case.

I updated my post with new information from the updated article, and in the context of that I think you're pretty much right. It sounds like the judge basically said "you need permission to arrest someone in the middle of my hearing, go get it" and then didn't change anything about the process of their hearing while that permission was being obtained. This was definitely not them being helpful , but I'm incredibly do…

> incredibly doubtful that they could be successfully prosecuted

Strongly agree. But, as I’m sure we both know, some other less-politically-connected people will be a bit more afraid of getting arrested on ridiculous grounds because of this. So, mission accomplished.

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#136

Post by staplers »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #116
bonif wrote: post #92

It’s heartbreaking to see the United States, once a symbol of strength and freedom, reduced to a complete joke.

Well, you see, some dogs and cats were being eaten, and the other lady cackled too much, so it was inevitable, really.

It's worse actually. People lived through 2020 and wanted to do it again..

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#138

Post by BizarroLand »

willis936 wrote: post #110
kemayo wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I updated my post with new information from the updated article, and in the context of that I think you're pretty much right. It sounds like the judge basically said "you need permission to arrest someone in the middle of my hearing, go get it" and then didn't change anything about the process of their hearing while that permission was being obtained. This was definitely not them being helpful , but I'm incredibly do…

[flagged]

For people who don't live in crazy town, this would be considered an oppressive action, arresting a judge for following procedure simply because it inconvenienced you.

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#139

Post by CamperBob2 »

frumplestlatz wrote: post #78
sorcerer-mar wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is absolutely federal overreach to send people to foreign torture prisons (or even domestic utopian cuddle farms) without due process, full stop.

[flagged]

If you have reason to believe that someone will be deprived of due process, which the Trump administration has essentially assured us, then it's a serious ethical violation to allow that to happen in your jurisdiction.

And by the way, the reason why due process is important is that it's all that stands between you and me and a permanent vacation in El Salvador, if we do or say something that offends the Trumpists sufficiently.

Re: FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

#140

Post by trelane »

throwaway5752 wrote: post #31

Executive branch arrests of members of judiciary are not to be taken lightly. There are many ways to deal with these situations and this is extraordinarily far from normal. All you can do is diversify your US-based investments and get travel visas while you still can. If you are tempted to downvote, you could make a better point by finding comparable examples under any other modern president.

I used to think that about ex presidents. The times seem to have changed.
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