The U.S. Department of Justice has initiated a misconduct complaint against seven federal judges in Minnesota, alleging they crossed ethical boundaries by discussing public statements regarding the pressure their courts faced during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The judges provided details to The New York Times this month about handling a surge in cases during Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement campaign that resulted in thousands of arrests across the Minneapolis-St. Paul area between December and February.
Attorney General Todd Blanche accused the judges of displaying “obvious bias” against the Trump administration and urged them to recuse themselves from any future cases involving the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “When we have a situation like we have now, where you have a judge, a couple of judges, just not only violating the canons in our view but also showing bias in what they’re saying, we have no choice but to act,” Blanche stated during a press briefing.
The judges maintain that their actions were appropriate. A representative for Minnesota’s federal court system noted that legal experts have determined the judges remained “well within the ethical rules” when they spoke with the newspaper.
This complaint marks the latest escalation in the ongoing conflict between the Trump administration and the judiciary, which has repeatedly blocked several of the president’s policies and, in some instances, accused government attorneys of ignoring court orders.
One of the judges named, Patrick Schiltz, alleged that the government failed to comply with nearly 100 court orders related to immigration enforcement in January alone. In a recent ruling, Schiltz wrote that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “is not a law unto itself.”
Schiltz, who was appointed to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush and previously served as a clerk for conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, told The New York Times that the events in Minnesota’s federal courts posed a “grave threat to the rule of law.” He further cited guidance issued by a federal judicial ethics panel in February, which permits judges to speak publicly on matters concerning the rule of law and judicial independence. “That is exactly what I did,” Schiltz said.
I’m skeptical. Attorneys general shouldn’t have the power to punish judges for speaking to the press. That sets a terrifying precedent.
Schiltz was appointed by Bush, which complicates the narrative of liberal bias. Maybe the administration is just losing patience with oversight.
Seven judges? That is a lot to single out. Is this really about ethics or just retaliation for blocking Trump’s policies?
This feels like a direct attack on judicial independence. Judges aren’t supposed to ignore blatant government overreach.