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FBI arrests judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

apnews.com

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

#311

Post by pesus »

kemayo wrote: post #168
willis936 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I'm not saying it's good, for sure. But I don't think it's a sign that the push for autocratic authoritarianism is winning , either. My optimistic take is that this is the sort of stupid overreach that works to turn other arms of government against the executive. The judiciary tends to be prickly about its prerogatives, and Trump's far from the point where he can just push stuff through without some cover.

We are far past the point of any optimistic take like that being realistic.

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

#312

Post by masklinn »

Kapura wrote: post #188
djoldman wrote: post #155

The arrest itself (not necessarily the charges) is best described as a publicity stunt. If you want to charge a lawyer or judge or anyone unlikely to run of a non-violent crime, you invite them to the station: > “First and foremost, I know -- as a former federal prosecutor and as a defense lawyer for decades – that a person who is a judge, who has a residence who has no problem being found, should not be arrested, if…

It is a statement that the current regime wants to discourage judicial independence. A judge is not an agent of ICE or the feds; they have undergone study and election and put in a position where their discretion has the weight of law. It's frankly disgusting to see how little separation of powers means to Republicans.

> It is a statement that the current regime wants to discourage judicial independence.

That’s not exactly new, I was recently reminded that during the governor’s meeting when Trump singled Maine out for ignoring an EO the governor replied that they’d be following the law, and Trump’s rejoinder was that they (his administration) are the law.

That was two months ago, late February.

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

#313

Post by sdenton4 »

Spivak wrote: post #162
willis936 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

If it turns autocratic then there's no discussion to be had. Judge will waterboarded in Gitmo and Trump is de-facto king. We are no longer a nation of laws, the USA is renamed to Trumpopolis and we all have to get government mandated orange spray tans. So assuming that doesn't happen, this is an action by a non-autocratic executive meant to have a chilling effect on low level judges who don't want to spend a few days…

Autocracy comes in shades. Arresting judges who do things you don't like is yet another shade darker than we've seen so far... And things were already pretty dark.

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

#314

Post by euroderf »

jawiggins wrote: post #291

The AP article [1] has the full complaint linked, the crux of the case seems to be around the judge allowing the defendant to leave through a back entrance ("jury door") when they were aware agents were waiting in the public hallway to make an arrest as they exited. " 29. Multiple witnesses have described their observations after Judge DUGAN returned to her courtroom after directing members of the arrest team to the…

There has to be precedents in case law for how to assess this.

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

#315

Post by hackinthebochs »

whats_a_quasar wrote: post #237
pjc50 wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> incredibly doubtful that they could be successfully prosecuted for this. But they can be successfully arrested. You can beat the rap but not the ride, etc. The US is not yet at the level of dysfunction where jurisdiction is settled with gunfire, but ICE seem to be determined to move that closer.

"You can beat the rap but not the ride" is phrased like the judge actually did anything wrong. That seems very doubtful. This administration has shown they are not entitled to the presumption that they are acting in good faith.

"You can't beat the ride" is saying that cops can punish you regardless of whether what you did was illegal.

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

#317

Post by kcatskcolbdi »

This seems bad in a sea of events that seem bad.

I have no deep admiration for judges, but the motivation for this seems deeply ideological, and I don't see a bright future where judges are arrested by the Gestapo based on ideological differences.

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

#318

Post by martinjacobd »

esbranson wrote: post #196

Ok looks like the PACER documents dropped. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69943125/united-states-...

If this complaint is true (my understanding is a complaint is always only one side of the story and the evidence presented may not end up being admissible, obviously IANAL and so forth), then seems quite similar to the MA case from several years ago: https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2024/12/04/judge-shel...

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

#319

Post by crooked-v »

jawiggins wrote: post #291

The AP article [1] has the full complaint linked, the crux of the case seems to be around the judge allowing the defendant to leave through a back entrance ("jury door") when they were aware agents were waiting in the public hallway to make an arrest as they exited. " 29. Multiple witnesses have described their observations after Judge DUGAN returned to her courtroom after directing members of the arrest team to the…

I find it extremely doubtful that she told the agents he'd be leaving through a particular door or that she had any legal obligation to make sure the man exited in a particular way.

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

#320

Post by prepend »

QuercusMax wrote: post #252
whats_a_quasar wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"You can beat the rap but not the ride" is phrased like the judge actually did anything wrong. That seems very doubtful. This administration has shown they are not entitled to the presumption that they are acting in good faith.

I don't think it implies the judge did anything wrong. If you're arrested, you're going to experience whatever the cops want to do to you, regardless of whether they can convict you of it. "You can beat the rap but not the ride" is an indictment of the cops, not the arrestee.

I don’t know. It seems pretty unusual.

Imagine that someone is being charged with shoplifting and literally at trial. Some other law enforcement agency shows up to the trial and wants to arrest them for jaywalking.

It seems dysfunctional that the court would release them when they know a different law enforcement agency is literally in the building and wanting to arrest them.

Is this how it works when the FBI comes to a county court looking for someone the county cops have in custody?

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