BOSTON – Federal prosecutors charged a Massachusetts judge with obstruction of justice and perjury on Thursday, saying she prevented immigration agents from arresting an undocumented immigrant after a state court hearing by allowing him to leave the courthouse through a back door.I'm not entirely clear why the action taken by a judge in Cal. wasn't pursued but it is welcome that an example is being made of.
Prosecutors alleged that during an April 2018 court hearing in Newtown, Mass., Joseph and MacGregor allowed the Dominican national, detained on drug and outstanding warrant charges, to leave the courthouse from a downstairs back door after the judge instructed an immigration agent to wait in the hallway outside her courtroom...I believe this to be a shot across the bow for other jurisdictions. While Sessions asked if/how the judge in Oakland could be prosecuted, Barr has taken action.n court documents, federal prosecutors offered up a partial transcript of the court proceeding in which the judge, defense attorney and court clerk refer to the migrant's status and the risk that he would be detained by immigration officials following the hearing.
"ICE is gonna get him?" Joseph asks the migrant's defense attorney.
"Yeah," the attorney responds.
Soon after the exchange, prosecutors allege, Joseph directed the courtroom recorder to be "turned off" for 52 seconds while the discussion continued.
The defense attorney later asked that Medina-Perez be allowed to retrieve his property from a downstairs lockup.
Reminded that the ICE agent was waiting outside the courtroom, the judge allegedly said: "That's fine. I'm not gonna allow them to come in here. But (the migrant) has been released on this."
When he was escorted downstairs, prosecutors asserted that MacGregor used his security access card to release Medina-Perez "out the back door."
Expect to not hear much about this case unless the judge gets off. Even then. Here's the other thing: I've long thought that any family of citizens killed by illegal aliens who are walking free in the US due to local government action, should be able to sue said governments and the specific individuals for wrongful death. If the prosecution of this judge succeeds I think that such families will be able to pursue these claims since they will be able to show that the actions of the government agents are criminal.