MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge Thursday opposed an order banning enforcement of new state laws, hoping that Americans would enter Florida as a misdemeanor, and whether he was considering whether he should be approved as a light empty.
US District Judge Kathleen Williams designated a temporary restraining order in his ruling last month to enforce Florida laws that apply to all local law enforcement agencies in the state. A Miami judge later said there was a considerable possibility that Florida law would be found unconstitutional.
However, Florida Attorney General James Usmieyer told law enforcement on April 23 that he could not prevent law enforcement officials from enforcing the law, “there are no judicial orders left that do not properly restrain you from doing so.”
“It is my opinion that as stated in the briefs submitted by my office today, your agency will not currently prevent you from continuing Florida’s new illegal entry and re-entry laws,” the Florida Attorney General said in a letter.
Dozens of people have been arrested under the law, including US citizens. Uthmeier appealed the judge’s order to Atlanta’s 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In court documents, Uthmeier said in a letter on April 23 that he was simply notifying local law enforcement agencies that he had submitted a summary of the court that held legal opinions that disagree with the judge’s order. According to a court filing in Uthmeier, he was following the judge’s order by notifying local law enforcement agencies in a letter on April 18 that they were unable to enforce the law.
“There is no basis for light empt or sanctions,” Uthmeier said. “Conversation of an order prohibiting a state attorney general from opposing a federal order — also — is the exceptional, or precisely the most human claim of federal jurisdiction, and implies serious constitutional concerns.”
But the attorney for an immigration rights group that challenged Florida law said it was unacceptable that the April 23 letter from the Florida Attorney General “encouraged a particular ban on arrest that he fully understood.”
A lawyer for the Florida Immigration Union said that even if Uthmeier’s argument was taken at face value, he was not merely stating his legal position, but despite being given ample opportunity, he did nothing to resolve the confusion. They said options that judges could consider include referring to financial sanctions and Uthmeier’s actions to federal authorities for Florida bars or prosecutors for disciplinary proceedings.
“Aimed objectively and in the context of the previous letter, the Attorney General’s second letter clearly undermined the notice he was directed to provide, and invited an arrest he knew was a violation of this court’s order,” the immigration rights lawyer said in court documents. “It’s a typical light empty for a court.”
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