A federal judge who oversees major immigration cases ruled he was attorney general on Tuesday in court cont. He violated a restraining order that would halt enforcement of new state laws that criminalize undocumented immigrants when he arrived in Florida.
US District Judge Kathleen Williams, who strongly criticized Usmeyer’s actions at last month’s hearing, said he crossed the line when the state attorney general notified police agency on April 23 that “there is no judicial order remaining to arrest Usmeyer under Florida immigration law.”
“The litigator cannot change the obvious meaning of words that suit them, especially when conveying a clear, clear order in the court,” writes Williams in her lightly empty order, quoting “through the glass of sight, through what Alice finds” from the classics of Lewis Carroll.
“Filility to the rule of law cannot have any other meaning.”
As punishment, Williams ordered Uthmeier to “submit a biweekly report detailing whether an arrest, detention or law enforcement lawsuit occurred, if any, how many, when, and by which law enforcement agencies.”
The judge said the first report must be filed by July 1st. She added that if a defendant in a lawsuit challenging state law learns of an arrest, the Attorney General must immediately notify the court of details of the arrest.
She said Uthmeier could ask to change or terminate reporting requirements in six months.
Uthmeier, 37, is a Florida native who served as Governor Ron Desantis’ Chief of Staff before appointing the state’s 39th Attorney General in February. He has not appeared in a series of hearings before Williams.
Initially, when he instructed Florida Highway patrols and other police agencies on April 18 that immigration laws must be refrained from enforcing, Usmeer appeared to comply with the judge’s restraint order when he learned that Florida Highway patrol officers had arrested more than 12 people to enter the state that they had illegally entered the states by US citizens, and then ordered them to refrain from enforcing immigration laws.
But five days later, the Attorney General faced with a follow-up letter to the agency, eliciting the judge’s rage in a case brought by the Immigration Coalition and others who challenge the constitutionality of state law.
Late May set the stage for Williams’ decision on Tuesday. Certainly, there is no precedent for a state attorney general to ignore federal judge orders, rather than the Southern District of Florida.
Uthmeier’s defense attorney Jesse Panuccio, who previously served in top positions in the state and Justice Department under the Republican administration, said the judges focused on the “snippet” of the April 23 letter to police agencies that they don’t need to follow, not the judge’s order.
During the hearing, Panuccio challenged the judge’s claim that the Attorney General had violated her restraint order.
“I don’t think this letter is saying – there’s no evidence,” he said. The state police agency added that it has not made any additional arrests since April 18, the date of her second restraining order. “There’s no light empty.”
However, a former Miami federal prosecutor who specializes in civil litigation questioned the rationale of the Attorney General’s lawyer after hearing his argument.
“Half of the parties to the lawsuit think it’s wrong when the courts take control over them,” lawyer David S. Mandel told the Miami Herald. “That is the purpose of the Court of Appeal. The losing party cannot ignore the judgment during that time. It is “Law 101.” ”
Appeal Panel Supports Judge Miami
On June 6, the Atlanta federal court appeals board rejected the Attorney General’s challenge to Williams’ injunction blocking enforcement of state laws criminalizing undocumented immigrants when they arrived in Florida.
A three-judge panel from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which maintained an order that temporarily prevented police and prosecutors from pursuing the charges based on Florida’s SB-4 signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in February.
Uthmeier’s office generally opposed the judge’s injunction regarding enforcement. He argued that it was too broad as it applies not only to appointed defendants, attorney general and prosecutors from various states, but also to unnamed defendants, including local, county and state police agencies.
In their decision, the judge concluded that Uthmeier “concluded that it may be correct that the district court order is unacceptable.
Uthmeier’s TV Commentary
At last month’s hearing, Williams said, “I won’t rubber her orders because she paraphrased some of his public comments, not just in Usmeyer’s letter to the state police agency, but also in television interviews and in social media.
“That’s what Usmeyer means,” Williams told his lawyer. “What he’s saying is pretty clear.”
Uthmeier also expressed his dissatisfaction with Williams in a recent interview with Orlando’s Fox 35. “This is Law 101,” he said. “She has no jurisdiction.”
At the hearing, the lawyer representing the immigration group that sued the state in Miami federal court said Usmeyer’s letter was an attempt to “avert and undermine the court’s order.”
“It’s clearly a courtroom light empty,” Cody Woffsey, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, told Williams at the hearing.
Usmieire, publicly endorsed by DeSantis, said the judge had no authority to order the Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and other police agencies to refrain from arresting immigrants in the country illegally upon arrival in the state.
Uthmeier spokesman Jeremy Redfern characterized Williams’ position as “law” by the “Judge of Obama-appointed” social media site X.
President Barack Obama appointed Williams to the Miami Federal Bench in 2010. The US Senate confirmed her the following year.
Plaintiff: The state’s new law is unconstitutional
The showdown between Williams and the state Attorney General’s office comes a month after others, represented by ACLU lawyers, such as the Florida Immigration Coalition and the Florida Farmers Association, filed their lawsuit in early April.
Williams agreed preliminaryly, citing the constitutional superiority clause.
In late April, Williams said he was “surprised and shocked” to learn that Usmeyer had initially told state troopers to follow her orders to not arrest undocumented immigrants entering Florida, but later said that he “cannot prevent them from arresting them” under new state law.
Williams issued a preliminary injunction on April 29, banning all state law enforcement officers and police agencies, including the Florida Highway Patrol, from arresting undocumented immigrants coming to Florida.
