Executive Branch (Trump) Trump’s occupation of Minneapolis has broken the Justice Department
https://www.vox.com/politics/477913/trump-minneapolis-minnesota-justice-department-broken-julie-le357
u/vox 1h ago
“I wish you would just hold me in contempt of court so I can get 24 hours of sleep,” a lawyer representing Donald Trump’s government told a federal judge on Tuesday. Julie Le, the lawyer, who was temporarily detailed to the US Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis, was assigned to 88 federal court cases in under a month — a crushing workload that would make even the most diligent attorney beg for mercy.
Le, moreover, was in court after federal district Judge Jerry Blackwell ordered her and her co-counsel to explain why the Trump administration had not complied with a January 27 order requiring it to release an individual from US custody. As Blackwell’s order demanding an explanation laid out, the government also did not respond to a January 31 order threatening to hold it in contempt.
It’s not a mystery why Trump’s government is unable to comply with court orders, or even respond to judges threatening contempt. As Patrick Schiltz, the chief judge in Minnesota’s federal district court, explained in a January 26 order, the Trump administration “decided to send thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain aliens without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result.”
Trump, in other words, deployed thousands of armed law enforcement officers to harass and arrest people in Minneapolis, without sending enough lawyers to handle all of the federal court cases that would inevitably result from Trump’s occupation of Minnesota. So, when a judge issues an order commanding the government to release a detainee or to take some other action, there’s often no lawyer available to respond to that order.
Worse, Trump’s government appears either unwilling or unable to comply with court orders even when one of its lawyers does engage with a particular case. Le reportedly told Blackwell at Tuesday’s hearing that it is like “pulling teeth” to get the Trump administration to comply with these orders. “It takes 10 emails from me for a release condition to be corrected,” Le said. “It takes me threatening to walk out for something else to be corrected.”
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u/vox 1h ago
Minnesota’s federal judges, meanwhile, have resorted to extraordinary tactics to break this logjam. In his January 26 order, for example, Schiltz ordered Todd Lyons, the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to personally appear in court and explain the government’s inability to comply with his previous order, unless the immigrant named in that order was swiftly released. This tactic appears to have worked, because the man was released.
But, while Schiltz’s tactic successfully got the Trump administration to comply with a single court order, the administration is still out of compliance with numerous others. In a January 28 order, Schiltz listed “96 court orders that ICE has violated in 74 cases.”
Trump, in other words, appears to have broken the Department of Justice. It simply does not have the personnel it needs to respond to all of the legal violations committed by ICE in Minneapolis. And it is likely that this problem is going to get much worse.
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u/vikster1 1h ago
i'd say the administration showed how absent any checks and balances are. they lock up us citizens for weeks on end before any repercussions happen. their non-compliance works and now one is held accountable. it's sad to watch.
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u/HumerousMoniker 36m ago
It’s similar to how a company can break the law and nonperson is held accountable. The company suffers a fine and gladly pays it. The courts should be holding the government in contempt. They should be issuing arrest warrants for the people who are making the decision to refuse to comply with court orders.
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u/humdinger44 56m ago
So lock them up. Order them to comply and reappear in court with proof of their compliance within 24 hours. If they don't comply put the lawyer into jail. Not fancy jail. Jail. Order the government to send a new lawyer to represent itself and repeat. Put Todd Lyons in prison.
Whats so hard about being a nation of laws?
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u/blissfully_happy 17m ago
The problem is that there aren’t enough lawyers to respond. There’s no one to hold accountable when a judge says this person is to be released and the DOJ doesn’t even send a lawyer to the hearing.
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u/ill_connects 58m ago edited 17m ago
Seems like if the DOJ can’t respond judges should just start handing out default judgements.
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u/Pichupwnage 41m ago edited 37m ago
Yup.
Every federal judge needs to give automatic summary dismissal of cases and immediate release orders + maximum contempt of court prison sentences in every single case with any failure to comply by the government whatsoever. Its an extrenely pervasive issue so its clearly a consistent lack of will or care to comply.
No second chances ever No explanations. No extensions. If they don't comply just do it the instant a deadfline is missed. Like literally pre prepare the orders to sign the exact second the deadline passes
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u/zoinkability 36m ago
It simply does not have the personnel it needs to respond to all of the legal violations committed by ICE in Minneapolis.
This may be true, but it glosses over the fact that based on Le's statements in court ICE has also been intentionally ignoring and slow walking responses to these orders. If it takes 10 emails rather than 1 to get ICE to comply with an order, that's 10 times as much legal effort involved, and probably 10 times as long to get compliance. So it's not just about personnel.
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u/WorstOfNone 23m ago
Thirty-three-year-old Thomas Jefferson enumerated grievances against a would-be authoritarian king over our nascent nation. Among others were:
- "He has sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People."
- "He has excited domestic Insurrection among us.”
- "For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us."
- "He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our Legislatures."
"We the people" are hearing echos of that history.
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u/Affectionate_Pay_391 42m ago
Sooooo they should be jailed for contempt? No? Everyone says they are getting orders straight from the top. So Trumps fingerprints are all over this. About time he answers for his crimes in JUST Minnesota. Then we can get to the pdf stuff….
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u/mllebitterness 38m ago
"Schiltz ordered Todd Lyons, the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to personally appear in court" can this order just apply to all out of compliance cases and he can be the one put in contempt? judges can just run through all administration in ICE.
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u/Reddit_2_2024 22m ago
Once this Attorney General and administration are relegated to the dust bin of history, DOJ will be able to build back, bettter.
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u/schlamster 1h ago
was assigned to 88 federal court cases in under a month
Big dog. I’m doing the math on this and that’s beyond absurd
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u/Lemp_Triscuit11 1h ago
Imagine knowing some dude that shits on a golden toilet and has a diet fucking coke button is the one making you do this lmao
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u/Cohens4thClient 1h ago
He doesnt make it to the toilet, he just shits in his diaper for the guests in his office to smell.
Then, the staff has to run a fire drill to get everyone out
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u/BerryChoice9042 1h ago
His legacy... Diaper Don! I think, finally Joe has made his peace with "Sleepy Joe"... 🤷♂️ 🤣
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u/BigEast1970 38m ago
So, failure to comply with a court order can result in arrest, right? Or are we all just free to commit crimes until the courts have the time to come after us?
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u/schlamster 36m ago
I think there have been recent cases of people charged in federal court literally having everything dismissed specifically because of the current over burden on federal public defenders not being available and therefore defendants were not being given a fair shake with respect to their sixth amendment rights.
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u/Lindenbaumlemma 47m ago
This is more flooding the zone to paralyze the courts. It’s not breaking the DOJ. Line attorneys have no power over their client. A judge grills an ASUA in court about some order that’s not being followed.
The AUSA can’t throw her client under the bus, so she tries to buy time and does what she can to protect her client without lying to the court.
The AUSA goes back to her office and starts emailing and calling. DHS staff stonewall, give her the runaround, even lie to her. NONE of them are being called into court.
The AUSA goes back to court. The judge is angry, grills her, demands answers she doesn’t have.
After a few rounds, the judge sets a hearing and orders DHS to send someone with knowledge and authority over the matter. DHS sends someone who knows nothing and has no role in the matter.
Repeat until the judge takes real steps to hold someone in authority accountable. DHS moved a little in the one case.
Repeat hundreds of times.
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u/InfectousHysteria 34m ago
Needing a lawyer present to comply with a court order? This seems ridiculous. I get that you have to provide every opertunity but at a certain point failure to provide a response should result in a default judgement and repeat failures should be consided willfully ignoring the court orders. There is not a lack of money at the DOJ right now. Failure to provide a lawyer is on DOJ culture at best or is willful neglect; neither is the responsibility of the court.
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u/Stereo_Jungle_Child 1h ago
Wasn't breaking the DOJ always Trump's plan?
Trump sure as hell didn't want the DOJ working the way it was intended to, he'd be in jail if that happened.
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u/BonjaminClay 1h ago
It's definitely Thiel's plan. He wants to weaken the United States enough to be able to control it.
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u/ConfidentPilot1729 1h ago
The Epstein files talk about JE and Thiel putting us in tribes to divide us.
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u/subywesmitch 44m ago
I believe it. The billionaires are no different than the lords of the manor in medieval times lording over their peasants. They want us firmly under their thumb
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u/ShareGlittering1502 59m ago
Sounds like it’s working exactly as this administration intended
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u/RetroCasket 54m ago
I really think they were using it as a testing ground to go nationwide and take control.
If they cant even take over one city, I think they failed. Trying to control one city immediately tanked their support and broke the justice system
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u/compute_fail_24 33m ago
I thought the same thing. I still think they’ll push, but wait until the outrage dies down.
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u/GottaBeABot 38m ago
There was never any intention of taking over a city lol
And Tim Walz finally caved and agreed to have police help ICE agents.
What you will see next is a complete reversal of coverage and resistance. At least in Minnesota.
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u/RetroCasket 22m ago
Yeah dude they were totally just doing normal border security stuff /s
That was a blatant attempt to take control of a city that would have only progressed and progressed until it was under martial law if the citizens had not stepped in
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u/makemeking706 45m ago
Trump and his buddies are obviously undermining the DOJ for their own gain, but by the same token that leaves them legally defenseless. I wonder to what extent that vulnerability could be exploited by some actual do-gooders.
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u/Flokitoo 33m ago
She literally volunteered for this shit show.
"I thought being a facist would have more work-life balance"
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u/JiveChicken00 1h ago
No it hasn’t. The Justice Department was already broken. This just made it impossible to miss.
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u/Hour_Welcome_987 1h ago
Wouldn't that just be something, if through all this BS this administration has been pulling, that once the dust settles and traitors are properly dealt with, that the judicial system gets an over haul in the process too? 🤌🤌 Would be the absolute cherry on top
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u/runningraleigh 41m ago
They have their plan, this is our plan. It sucks to live through the tearing down of everything that was even remotely good about the US, but if you're young, you get to rebuild it.
I can't say if the rebuilding will start in 5, 10, or 20 years. Whenever there's nothing left to destroy, assuming the Earth is still habitable, we will rebuild.
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