Judge Schiltz Blasts Trump Administration Over Nearly 100 Court-Order Violations in Minneapolis Crackdown
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Sep 17
Judge Schiltz Blasts Trump Administration Over Nearly 100 Court-Order Violations in Minneapolis Crackdown
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Sep 17
Summary
Nearly 100 court-order violations in one month during Operation Metro Surge led Judge Patrick Schiltz to call the Trump administration a "grave threat to the rule of law" in a rare interview.
Schiltz said the failures came after hundreds of detainees filed habeas petitions in late January, when release orders piled up faster than ICE and the Justice Department could handle them.
The 66-year-old Bush appointee said the noncompliance halted court business, inflamed clashes between protesters and ICE agents, and followed a deportation drive that produced thousands of arrests and two U.S. citizen deaths.
DHS said it acted within the Constitution, while DOJ said it would continue to comply with court orders and argued many cases met the substance of rulings despite missed secondary deadlines.
Nancy Brasel, a Trump-appointed federal judge, defended Schiltz's right to speak on judicial independence after DOJ suggested judges should avoid on-the-record interviews and consider recusal.