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172 comments

  • I don't see any mention of a warrant.

    Not that I'm surprised by that, but to say this is an "escalation" is an understatement.

    This is a declaration of absolute power.

    Edit: she was released on bond. Meaning a magistrate validated a warrant. Who signed the warrant?

    Editl 2: Magistrate Dries did, yesterday. FBI Agent Lindsay Schloemer filed the complaint. Interestinginly Dugar wasn't the only judge who told the ICE officers to fuck off (in legal terms). She just told them then defendant and his attorney they could leave because ICE didn't have the correct warrant.

  • Hey guys, it’s a really good sign when judges are getting arrested, right? Very normal and functioning country? 😬

  • This is a clear authoritarian signal and power grab, but trying to think practically since I'm getting exhausted with my own powerless exasperation with nothing to show for it:

    To get an arrest warrant, you typically would need a judge to sign off on it. So either (a) another judge signed the warrant to arrest this judge, or (b) they falsely arrested the judge without a proper warrant.

    I think (b) is possible with how slipshod Trump officials are, but more likely they followed the letter if not the spirit of the law, so (a). That suggests that there may be a pocket judge signing spurious warrants for Patel. This also makes more sense, since they likely need cover when assisting ICE, so they'd want someone in that role.

    So in a healthy system, first would be Congress forcibly removing Patel. Probably every GOP congressperson's response here will be "I haven't heard about that, now I'll walk away down this hall casual-like because frankly nobody is going to hold me accountable." The other less direct approach would be to identify this judge then there may be a removal process. What other things can be done here short of revolution?

    • The article doesn't mention anything about a warrant. If there is a warrant, there is a record of the judge that signed it.

      And that judge would have to have jurisdiction I think. So in either case, the answer is be prepared for shit

      Edit: She was released on bond, meaning a judge validated the warrant, meaning there's a warrant, and a judge who signed it. This is bad.

  • I really wish independent journalism existed so you could find out basic facts like "how often does the FBI normally arrest judges?" "Has a judge ever been arrested for obstruction of justice?" "Do they never get arrested inside a courthouse?"

    I'm sure Judges sometimes commit crimes, just like everyone else. Are they normally given special deference and not arrested? Do they only get arrested for serious charges, and normally they get special dispensation because of their judge status?

    Arresting judges does sound alarming, but without context it's impossible to know just how norm-breaking it is.

    For example, if a judge is pulled over and found to be driving drunk, I most definitely would want that judge arrested and charged. Not arresting and charging a judge in that situation sounds like institutional corruption. I wouldn't be surprised if it happens, but I don't know because these journalists aren't doing their damn jobs.

    Don't get me wrong, in this case I'm pretty convinced that the Trump people are overstepping their bounds. It seems like a pattern of attacking the judiciary. And, this isn't the judges being arrested for driving drunk or accepting bribes. This is judges being arrested for things related to immigration. Immigration, in particular, is something that the Trump administration is doing completely unlawfully.

    But, how can we have any kind of informed dialogue when the standard of reporting is: "One side said 'It's outrageous they arrested a judge', the other side said 'the administration won't accept judges breaking the law.' The judge may have been a democrat."

172 comments