Habeas corrigia. Although the filing of new habeas corpus cases has slowed to a trickle in federal court in Minnesota since Operation Metro Surge began winding down, the entire phenomenon has broken down into farce.
More than a 1,000 habeas cases have been filed in Minnesota since the new year began, each case seeking to free one or more illegal aliens being held in ICE detention. We currently stand at 1,037 cases.
At this point, almost all of the subject detainees have been freed, at this point, the argue is about missing personal items.
The entire federal judicial system, including the federal district court and the U.S. Attorney’s office and the U.S. Marshal’s office, have been repurposed as a central “lost and found” clearinghouse.
Back on Tuesday (March 3), Biden-appointed judge Jeffrey Bryan held a day-long hearing to clear some 28 unresolved habeas cases, all involving missing personal items of long-freed detainees. During the hearing, Judge Bryan threatened to imprison sitting U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate because a freed detainee claims he is still missing a shoelace.
Not a shoe. A shoelace. I wish I were kidding. My friend Scott Johnson of Power Line attended the entire court hearing and filed a report here.
This afternoon, Clinton-appointed judge John Tunheim will be holding another contempt hearing/humiliation ritual/struggle session involving an additional five (5) habeas cases (down from the original 6 or 7 cases, accounts vary).
In every single case, the detainee has already been released. Disputes remain only as to unreturned personal property. Quoting from the judge’s March 3 Order (p. 5) in the case, he is “concerned by the inconvenience to” the illegal aliens affected.
During the hearing, the judge will consider contempt sanctions against the individual government lawyers compelled to appear. As a nonlawyer, my understanding of the purpose of contempt sanctions (imprisonment, daily cash fines) is to compel compliance with court orders.
As a logistical matter, imprisoning the current, duly appointed, U.S. Attorney for Minnesota for an indefinite period is unlikely to speed the return of an illegal alien’s missing debit card (Order, p. 4).
As a Constitutional matter, the idea that a Senate-confirmed officer of the judicial branch would order the executive branch (U.S. Marshals) to imprison a Senate-confirmed officer of the U.S. Dept. of Justice (also executive branch) over a noncitizen’s missing debit card is too preposterous to contemplate.
Yet, here we are.
