No More Benefit Of The Doubt -- Joyce Vance

[erronis]

https://joycevance.substack.com/p/no-more-benefit-of-the-doubt

Last Sunday, we discussed a number of cases pending in front of federal district judges in Minneapolis. Friday night, one of them, Judge John Tunheim, dropped a decision that is well worth your time--even on a Friday night. It involves allegations from people detained by ICE that their property was seized and not returned to them. Another word for that might be theft, although one supposes it could also be the result of extraordinary carelessness. Federal law enforcement agents routinely collect, and subsequently return, the possessions of people they detain. But that isn't happening here.

Judge Tunheim felt so much urgency about the matter than he got his ruling out on a Friday night, not a typical time for a federal judge to be finishing up at work. But he decided it was time to deliver a reckoning to the Trump administration and apparently, didn't want to delay. His order starts like this:

"During Operation Metro Surge, ICE repeatedly failed to return personal property to detainees ordered released by the Court. In some cases, weeks after their release, and in violation of Court orders, Petitioners continue to be deprived of access to their most essential physical possessions, intensifying the harm of their unlawful arrests and presenting further risks to their safety, liberty, and well-being."

. . .

Judge Tunheim says that the former detainees can submit claims for their "lost or missing property." Then, he directs the government to "promptly remedy all ongoing violations of Court orders in these cases by compensating all claims submitted by Petitioners." He gives the government 30 days to do that. It's not entirely clear but I read this as saying "all" submitted claims must be paid. The government doesn't get to evaluate the claims or argue about the dollar amount. It just has to pay up. In 30 days.

Then comes the kicker. The Judge says that holding the government, which here would mean the U.S. Attorney and other officials, in contempt "is not the appropriate action yet,"....."but." "But" does a lot of heavy lifting here and Judge Tunheim doesn't beat around the bush in clarifying just how disturbing the Trump administration's conduct has been. He writes, "the Court directs Respondents," (that's the government here), to handle the claims "with the same urgency that it used when arresting and transporting detainees, including these Petitioners, out of the state of Minnesota during Operation Metro Surge." Ouch.

. . .

[malaise]

1. Important

Get thee to the greatest page

Rec

[surfered]

2. It's readily apparent that ICE are just masked thugs with little law enforcement training.

What little training they did get was that it was ok to break and enter homes and cars without a judicial warrant. For training them to violate the 4th and 5th Amendments, the higher ups also need to be held to account!

[Martin68]

3. Corrupt thugs. Vandals.

[CaptainTruth]

6. Criminals.

[Midnight Writer]

4. ICE will continue to operate illegally and defy court orders until SOMEONE GOES TO JAIL!

For Christ's sake, how many chances do they get?

These 'strongly worded decisions", the "stern warnings from the Bench", the orders repeated over and over like to a belligerent child?

None of that means a thing.

Nothing will change until the people doing this are held PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE.

Just to be clear, by PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE I mean PRISON TIME for breaking the law again and again.

How many chances does a citizen like you or me get before being locked up? Why do these government employees skate away from consequences over and over again?

[Seinan Sensei]

13. I couldn't agree more

If you START by jailing the lower echelons - the thugs in the street - then the dam will burst.
Put their thug-asses behind bars, and they will sing like a canary.
They will tell you who did what.
They will tell you what fellow-thugs stole
They will tell you what trainers and supervisors told them.
They will tell you who broke car windows, who used pepper spray, who hurt protesters.

The CHUDs at the top of the food chain are too insulated, too well-protected.

[lastlib]

14. Sounds like this one has teeth.

Pay within 30 days, no questions--as submitted.

So if someone says ICE took $500 and a $1200 iPhone, ICE doesn't get to contest it.

[BurnDoubt]

17. Absolutely on-target.

[BurnDoubt]

5. He Heritage Foundation is responsible for these atrocious acts of Barbarity.

They should be subpoened and questioned about their involvement in seventy-plus years of covertly overthrowing Democracy in our country.
They have slowly packed the Courts with right-wing activist judges that are twisting the Law to make their agenda the Law of the Land.
Remember how they used to bitch about "activist judges" and use terms like "radical"?
I haven't heard so much about that since it's their radical activist judges that are doing the Legislating now that Congress used to do.
Good on Judge Tunheim.
Thank You, Sir.

[erronis]

9. It amazes me how well the lower courts have held up to this fascist onslaught.

Time and again I read about some republicon appointed judge upholding the law.

And then there is the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Fifth_Circuit#2020s

During his first administration, President Donald Trump appointed six judges to the court, with many observers thereafter regarding it as the most conservative court of appeals.[5][6][7] The Fifth Circuit's reversal rate at the US Supreme Court from the beginning of the 2020 term through the end of the 2022 term was 74%, making it the 7th most frequently reversed circuit court; the average rate of reversals was 68%.[8][9] Some members of the Supreme Court, including Chief Justice John Roberts, have indicated concern with how the Fifth Circuit approaches cases.[10][11][12] Several court observers have interpreted the court as being exceptionally conservative in its rulings.[13]

[GiqueCee]

15. Project 2025...

... was an instruction manual for domestic terrorism. Put that evil weasel, Russell Vought on the stand under oath and wring the truth out of him. If he refuses to answer even one question, throw his ass in jail. He's the architect of this terror campaign that Nosferatu Miller was only too happy to implement. Hang the sonofabitch. Figuratively speaking, of course, heh, heh, heh.

[BurnDoubt]

16. YEP. ROOT, STEM, AND FLOWER.

A decades-long conspiracy run from the top down.

[malaise]

18. THIS

Rec

[Lonestarblue]

7. I read a few weeks ago that ICE agents were taking people's phones and selling them.

I would not be at all surprised if they are stealing cash from detainees, as well as any jewelry they think they can sell. The dirtbags would also get satisfaction from just destroying people's possessions. They are just as evil as Trump and Miller and the rest of the DHS Gestapo.

[erronis]

8. When they start ripping the teeth out of the mouths to get to the gold.....

[highplainsdem]

12. And selling the phones with all the personal content still on them.

[Exp]

10. k&R

[orangecrush]

11. K&R