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Boston-area judge charged with helping undocumented immigrant escape courthouse to elude ICE

trouble13 said:
Considering this is a year later i imagine some type of investigation was done. However if they did it in a way to create a spectacle out of it i share your criticism of that.

What i have contention with you about is suggesting it should of been handled as an administrative matter. I could see your point if this was a dispute over how the judge ruled on something. Thats arguably an sdminstrative matter that perhaps leads to impeachment.

She is being accused of a criminal act. Its on the same level of if she hid a criminal in her home to prevent them from being arrested. Her position and the location are irrelevant. Its the act thst she is being alleged to of done that needs to be addressed.

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Maybe it should not be handled as an administrative matter, but as an inquiry firstly, before firing-off an arrest warrant. It does seem like a confusing case.
If the Judge beats the charges here, it's going to reflect very poorly on the feds in their rush to charge.
 
Barnacle said:
I had read this story on Fox earlier on and didn't recall anything in it about "mistaken identity" (post #2), so I read the NBC link and found that NBC omitted the info that the illegal alien went under several aliases. ICE will have had those names he went under and I believe his lawyer used it to the guy's advantage ... picking one of the names ICE had and telling the judge: "Look, that's not my client's name ... case of mistaken identity."

Fox also had a little more info on that prime specimen of an "immigrant":

"... Medina-Perez’s freedom was short-lived. He was arrested a month later after the court hearing and again let go, this time by an immigration judge who freed him on bond, the Boston Globe reported. That case is currently pending, officials said. The 38-year-old native of the Dominican Republic had been previously deported in January 2003 and June 2007, ICE said. His real name is Oscar Manuel Peguero, although he goes by several aliases."

Massachusetts judge who helped illegal immigrant escape ICE arrest indicted, federal authorities say | Fox News


It's obvious ... our law-and-order system is a joke when you have judges like these.
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This wasn’t about the alleged aliases. The ICE warrant was outstanding from a previous DUI arrest in another State. The prosecutor looked at the mugshot from that arrest and agreed the defendant was not the same person. ICE has a pretty extensive history of detaining the wrong person, even US citizens, for months and even years so it seems they let the man go because all three (defense attorney, prosecutor, and judge) agreed that ICE was trying to detain the wrong person.
 
Chomsky said:
Maybe it should not be handled as an administrative matter, but as an inquiry firstly, before firing-off an arrest warrant. It does seem like a confusing case.
If the Judge beats the charges here, it's going to reflect very poorly on the feds in their rush to charge.
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Im not expert on the law but if the allegations are true, what she did should be a crime.

As far as an inquiry first goes. My question is if one was not done why did it take a year to charge her? Seems to me she should of been charged sooner.

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trouble13 said:
Im not expert on the law but if the allegations are true, what she did should be a crime.

As far as an inquiry first goes. My question is if one was not done why did it take a year to charge her? Seems to me she should of been charged sooner.

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Can you see why I have concerns over possible Trump intimidation?

Not proof, obviously; but concerns.
 
Chomsky said:
Source:

(NBC News) Boston-area judge charged with helping undocumented immigrant escape courthouse to elude ICE

This is a fast breaking story, only several hours old. So, details are still coming-out. I also suspect it is going to be a hotly debated story, given the circumstances.

As for me, being firstly a big-picture guy, I have concerns of Trump attempting to put fear into the judiciary, injecting his authoritarianism into the bench. But the law & order side of me realizes there may be instances where judges act illegally or can obstruct justice, and need to be dealt with.

I'm not concluding that legal obstruction necessarily took place here, and even if it did I would rather it initially be examined in a judicial review situation, rather than initially by a law-enforcement warrant. I have strong concerns about protecting the independence of the judiciary.

So at this point, I'm leaning against this action today. But I am being halted in my feelings, until I can find-out more. I just don't understand why this was not handled administratively firstly, where it could further be handed-off for criminal prosecution if warranted.
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Democrats will likely have trouble understanding why a democrat judge would be charged with illegally aiding and abetting a criminal since the democrat was just doing what he knew democrats would approve of.
 
Napoleon said:
This wasn’t about the alleged aliases. The ICE warrant was outstanding from a previous DUI arrest in another State. The prosecutor looked at the mugshot from that arrest and agreed the defendant was not the same person. ICE has a pretty extensive history of detaining the wrong person, even US citizens, for months and even years so it seems they let the man go because all three (defense attorney, prosecutor, and judge) agreed that ICE was trying to detain the wrong person.
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I never said it was about alleged aliases, just that he went under various names.

By the way, I read somewhere that ICE identified him by his fingerprints.
 
Chomsky said:
Can you see why I have concerns over possible Trump intimidation?

Not proof, obviously; but concerns.
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Is your concern because she is being charged or is it the way it was executed?

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Barnacle said:
I never said it was about alleged aliases, just that he went under various names.

By the way, I read somewhere that ICE identified him by his fingerprints.
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This is the same ICE that was absolutely certain they’d ID’d an undocumented immigrant who would turn out to be an American citizen they illegally imprisoned for over 3 years?
 
trouble13 said:
Is your concern because she is being charged or is it the way it was executed?

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A little of both.

But you know, we really don't know enough to make any decisions. So it's getting kinda' hypothetical. But I do think it's an important story.
 
Chomsky said:
A little of both.

But you know, we really don't know enough to make any decisions. So it's getting kinda' hypothetical. But I do think it's an important story.
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Because we are talking about this i did a little research and found the charging document.

Massachusetts District Court Judge and Court Officer Indicted for Obstruction of Justice | USAO-MA | Department of Justice

Some things in it jump out at me

An ice agent shows up there and she instructs him that he may not be in her courtroom. She tells him to wait out in the lobby and if she releases him he will exit through that lobby.

She then turns off the court recorder and concots a plan to release him through a different exit.

Innocent until proven guility but that sounds bad.

What i am still looking for is an article on how the arrest warrant was served. It says she was indicted in frint of a grandjury but i have not found any information on is she showed up voluntarily or they physically arrested her. Nor have i found anything about if she is in jail or bail was set or if she is suspended from the bench.

From what i read so far i do not share your concerns about intimidation but there are a lot of questions that i still have.

PS
Ftr... i am always concerned about excessive use of force and intimidation by our justice dept. Everyone should be.

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trouble13 said:
Because we are talking about this i did a little research and found the charging document.

Massachusetts District Court Judge and Court Officer Indicted for Obstruction of Justice | USAO-MA | Department of Justice

Some things in it jump out at me

An ice agent shows up there and she instructs him that he may not be in her courtroom. She tells him to wait out in the lobby and if she releases him he will exit through that lobby.

She then turns off the court recorder and concots a plan to release him through a different exit.

Innocent until proven guility but that sounds bad.

What i am still looking for is an article on how the arrest warrant was served. It says she was indicted in frint of a grandjury but i have not found any information on is she showed up voluntarily or they physically arrested her. Nor have i found anything about if she is in jail or bail was set or if she is suspended from the bench.

From what i read so far i do not share your concerns about intimidation but there are a lot of questions that i still have.

PS
Ftr... i am always concerned about excessive use of force and intimidation by our justice dept. Everyone should be.

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Typically, there is some lag (delay) between grand jury indictment and the serving of the arrest warrant. Once arrested for a non-violent offense bail is usually posted and the alleged perp is not locked up pending the trial date which can be months away.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Typically, there is some lag (delay) between grand jury indictment and the serving of the arrest warrant. Once arrested for a non-violent offense bail is usually posted and the alleged perp is not locked up pending the trial date which can be months away.
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Thats fine but the question raised is if im concerned that she is being intimidated. So far i am not concerned but those details are missing still. If it turns out the feds are waterboarding jer i may change my mind about if she is being intimidated

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trouble13 said:
Because we are talking about this i did a little research and found the charging document.

Massachusetts District Court Judge and Court Officer Indicted for Obstruction of Justice | USAO-MA | Department of Justice

Some things in it jump out at me

An ice agent shows up there and she instructs him that he may not be in her courtroom. She tells him to wait out in the lobby and if she releases him he will exit through that lobby.

She then turns off the court recorder and concots a plan to release him through a different exit.

Innocent until proven guility but that sounds bad.

What i am still looking for is an article on how the arrest warrant was served. It says she was indicted in frint of a grandjury but i have not found any information on is she showed up voluntarily or they physically arrested her. Nor have i found anything about if she is in jail or bail was set or if she is suspended from the bench.

From what i read so far i do not share your concerns about intimidation but there are a lot of questions that i still have.

PS
Ftr... i am always concerned about excessive use of force and intimidation by our justice dept. Everyone should be.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
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Agreed!
 
Chomsky said:
I'm not sure what you're getting at, here.
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You stated that this might undermine the judiciary. That's a good thing, but it'd be much better if it were happening to a federal judge, since they do far more harm.
 
Chomsky said:
Source:

(NBC News) Boston-area judge charged with helping undocumented immigrant escape courthouse to elude ICE

This is a fast breaking story, only several hours old. So, details are still coming-out. I also suspect it is going to be a hotly debated story, given the circumstances.

As for me, being firstly a big-picture guy, I have concerns of Trump attempting to put fear into the judiciary, injecting his authoritarianism into the bench. But the law & order side of me realizes there may be instances where judges act illegally or can obstruct justice, and need to be dealt with.

I'm not concluding that legal obstruction necessarily took place here, and even if it did I would rather it initially be examined in a judicial review situation, rather than initially by a law-enforcement warrant. I have strong concerns about protecting the independence of the judiciary.

So at this point, I'm leaning against this action today. But I am being halted in my feelings, until I can find-out more. I just don't understand why this was not handled administratively firstly, where it could further be handed-off for criminal prosecution if warranted.
Click to expand...

You know what? Sometimes there is 'the law'. And then there is doing what is right. And I would venture that often doing the latter will often more resemble what is 'justice', than the former. ICE engages in some very questionable practices that just don't tip toe along the edge of the law. But often goes well beyond the edge.
 
Chomsky said:
Source:

(NBC News) Boston-area judge charged with helping undocumented immigrant escape courthouse to elude ICE

This is a fast breaking story, only several hours old. So, details are still coming-out. I also suspect it is going to be a hotly debated story, given the circumstances.

As for me, being firstly a big-picture guy, I have concerns of Trump attempting to put fear into the judiciary, injecting his authoritarianism into the bench. But the law & order side of me realizes there may be instances where judges act illegally or can obstruct justice, and need to be dealt with.

I'm not concluding that legal obstruction necessarily took place here, and even if it did I would rather it initially be examined in a judicial review situation, rather than initially by a law-enforcement warrant. I have strong concerns about protecting the independence of the judiciary.

So at this point, I'm leaning against this action today. But I am being halted in my feelings, until I can find-out more. I just don't understand why this was not handled administratively firstly, where it could further be handed-off for criminal prosecution if warranted.
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The optics of such a case could be the determining factor here. This would appear to be a rather popular topic after all, in most cases.
 
Napoleon said:
You mean the ICE “warrants” that are printed out by the ream and aren’t signed by a judge. I’d wipe my ass with it and tell the ICE stooge to have a nice day.
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Then you could go to jail too!

Keep in mind that this wasn't even the 'usual' controversy of ICE asking police to hold a defendant once they're done with him. Federal officers were in the building seeking the man, and these people actively worked to help him escape.
 
AmNat said:
You stated that this might undermine the judiciary. That's a good thing, but it'd be much better if it were happening to a federal judge, since they do far more harm.
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What??
 
Atomic Kid said:
You know what? Sometimes there is 'the law'. And then there is doing what is right. And I would venture that often doing the latter will often more resemble what is 'justice', than the former. ICE engages in some very questionable practices that just don't tip toe along the edge of the law. But often goes well beyond the edge.
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That's a tough one, because while I'd like to consider myself a righteous man, I am aghast at defying the legal system. If there's a problem with the law, I believe it should be changed - not violated.
 
Chomsky said:
That's a tough one, because while I'd like to consider myself a righteous man, I am aghast at defying the legal system. If there's a problem with the law, I believe it should be changed - not violated.
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Not to mention the bar for an officer of the court should be much higher for obeying legal process.
 
This is a reflection of Trump's war on the states that do not kowtow to federal demands.
 
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