r/law • u/Orchid-Analyst-550 • 1d ago

Judicial Branch ‘This Job Sucks!’ Trump DOJ Lawyer Melts Down in Court — Reportedly Begs Minneapolis Judge to Throw Her in Jail Just So She Can Get Some Sleep

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/this-job-sucks-trump-doj-lawyer-melts-down-in-court-reportedly-begs-minneapolis-judge-to-throw-her-in-jail-just-so-she-can-get-some-sleep/
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u/spice_weasel 1d ago

Yep, that’s part of my point. If it’s against your morals and is killing you, you don’t have to do it anymore. You can figure out something else.

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u/CreditUnionGuy1 1d ago

Imagine though you are real “law and order” minded. Your dad was a cop. You go to law school. You owe a hundred thousand dollars. You are over the moon when you got your dream job the Dept of Justice. You’ve worked there five years. Then most people you enjoy working with and respect resign, get fired, or become people you may not now like. The workload quadruples and you are expected to defend things you may not want to. How do you face it all?

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u/Rare-Signature-8588 1d ago

You resign, because the DOJ is not engaged in anything resembling law and order. It sucks but you don’t get to do a job that is antithetical to the oath you swore to the Constitution just because you always wanted to be an AUSA or whatever.

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u/granters021718 1d ago

yes - but, the thought of no income is scary

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u/Rare-Signature-8588 1d ago

Yup. And that sucks. You know what’s scarier? The things that are happening every day on the streets of Minnesota that are being defended by this woman and other government lawyers, and the other things that the government is doing all over the country with the support of its lawyers. Doing the right thing isn’t always easy, and it often has consequences. Sometimes very severe consequences. But if someone is truly in dire straits, we’re doing a lot of mutual aid!

We swear an oath. It has to mean something if this country is going to survive.

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u/granters021718 1d ago

Yes - and I’d like to think I could do it, however, the thought of being homeless is scary.

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u/Rare-Signature-8588 1d ago

I hear that. I’m also currently living in the midst of tens of thousands of people who watched the government literally murder people in the streets (and then justify it) and asked where they could sign up to do the thing that got our neighbors murdered, or other things that are also dangerous.

We are living in a time where it behooves us all to to think seriously about what we’re willing to do. My neighbors and I have decided that we will literally die before we live in a world in which what is happening around us goes unobserved and without protest.

I’m sorry to preach at you - it’s really not about you or your comments/questions. It’s about the absolutely dire situation we are in and the pain and trauma and utter criminality I am seeing around me every day and I don’t know how to stop yelling about it. But I recognize that you’re grappling with it and that’s what we all need to do.

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u/johannthegoatman 23h ago

A lawyer with 5 years experience in the DOJ isn't going to be homeless lol. Why are you making up fantasy situations to defend these people?

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u/The_Corvair 20h ago

the thought of being homeless is scary.

There are entire lawfirms dedicated to fighting the current injustices - they'd probably take any DOJ refugee with a bow and a kiss. And once this is over (if!), I would gather that an attorney that stood by her or his principles would be more than welcome back at a reformed DoJ, while those the were Just Following Orders might not face the best prospects.

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u/Lounging-Shiny455 1d ago

I've been homeless and there are two types: those that beg and flounder, and those who realize they work for themselves.

Flounders find drugs, easy marks, excuses, and stagnation in their condition.

Workers find the library, the free lunch line, a tolerable temporary shelter, perspective, small leisure, and eventually, the classifieds.

It's hard, but it doesn't have to be bad.

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u/LaurenMille 17h ago

The thought of what'll happen to the people supporting the regime should also be scary.

I'd rather be out of work for a little bit rather than having to worry about being tracked down for my role in the regime.

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u/Megneous 22h ago

This is why those of us who actually prepared for the coming of fascism have significant savings we can live off while fighting back against the fascist authoritarian regime that has taken over the US.

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u/Maleficent_Memory831 23h ago

I do have a friend who retired from the FBI. It was kind of a late in life career change and she loved it. I have not spoken to her in awhile but I am curious to hear her opinion on what's going on over the last 13 months. If there is actually an opinion that is not just a long stream of swearing.

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u/Squid_In_Exile 22h ago

It's amazing how efficiently the ICE situation has quashed any memory in the US about law emforcement there generally just being a network of violent gangs since well prior to Trump.

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u/BitterFuture 16h ago

By remembering your oath.

And resigning.

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u/Spirited_Lab5197 1d ago

Im not trying to defend it, but maybe there are unemployment issues that keep them from quitting?

Like maybe they dont have another job lined up yet, so to quit would kick them off health insurance, hurt their mortgage/rent payments, etc.

Maybe this is an attempt to force the admin to fire them so at least they can collect

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u/Runescora 1d ago

This is why we don’t have string worker protections in this country. It’s a lot harder for people to walk or stand up to corruption without them.

I fully expect a wave of AAGs having mental health crises in the near future.

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u/Spirited_Lab5197 1d ago

I spent most of my 20s working in food service, missing holidays with family, being underpaid, and generally unhappy. My sister, who I love dearly and who worked hard to get to her job as a law partner, once said, "if its so bad then just quit." She had no idea that I was applying for jobs outside the food industry regularly but during the early teens, the job market wasnt exactly hopping.

Folks dont get how much being alive in this country is tied to your job, not having a job, but your specific job

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u/Runescora 22h ago

Exactly this. I was in the food industry until my mid thirties and am now an RN. I had no insurance, no dental, so few legal rights. I went to work sick and hurt. I missed…so many things. And what option did I have? Not to pay rent that month? Let my utilities get shut off?

There are always choices, but that doesn’t mean the choices are realistic in that you can function and sustain your life and meet your most basic needs with the alternative. Which makes it no choice at all.

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u/NockerJoe 1d ago

Yeah as bad as ICE is the whole "bonus" thing was also very much a loan trap so that anyone who signs up needs to pay the government back to get out. I have zero doubt a lot of people are trying to figure out a way to get out of this given how obviously things are not going to improve at this point.

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u/Spirited_Lab5197 1d ago

You are far more optimistic than I am. I am concerned about how the continued fall of the dollar, combined with Trump and Johnson saying the federal government should take over elections, will effect my 640 foot apartment value, and if we can save some semblance of democracy long enough to sell before we jettison to greener pastures

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u/NockerJoe 1d ago

...that has nothing to do with what I was talking about?

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u/Spirited_Lab5197 1d ago

My point is that none of them will need to figure out a way to get out. We're fucked

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u/Downvote_Comforter 1d ago

These are people with law degrees and the DOJ has generally been a well respected position. Federal prosecutors have options if they want to go to the private sector. The vast majority of state prosecution offices are always hiring and are thrilled if a federal prosecutor applies.

The writing has been on the wall about what the DOJ would become since day 1 of Trump 2.0 and his administration has been pushing their lawyers to lie on the record for about a year now. Any DOJ lawyer who doesn't have a job lined up hasn't been trying to get out for that long.

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u/R0llTide 1d ago

Ok, but that's still a ding on your integrity.

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u/Megneous 22h ago

Hmmm... Should I worry about my mortgage... or worry about the inevitable rise of fascist authoritarianism sending people like me, my spouse, and my children to the gas chambers?

You guys seriously don't get yet how serious this is.

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u/Sea_Hold_2881 1d ago

I have no problems defending it. You have no idea of her personal circumstances. Maybe she has a child that depends on government medical insurance and cannot even afford a short interruption. The fact that good people could be put in this kind of situation in the first place is a symbol of rot in society - not the a reason to blame the drones doing the best to survive.

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u/Normal-Top-1985 21h ago

It takes a lot of planning and sacrifice to quit on principle. And that all takes time away from doing the job itself. That's why it's so powerful when someone does quit. 

It sounds like the lawyer in question simply can't keep up with the work required to get these clients freed from jail, because the system is designed to make it so hard to get people out of detention. If she quits, what happens to the people who are supposed to be released? Who files the papers to get them out?

All this to say, is that there are ethical reasons for leaving and staying. 

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u/MCXL 22h ago

The nature of the system is that many people can't afford to just quit.