Post

Judge Menendez notes that the proceedings will delve into the legal questions more than the evidentiary record.

The state asks the judge to deliver relief TODAY. Pam Bondi sent a "ransom note" to the state, the lawyer says.

Lindsey Middlecamp argues for the state: “Another person has been shot dead in broad daylight by DHS agents.”

Middlecamp: The ICE surge shouldn't last “another month, another week, or another single day.”

Middlecamp: "Can we keep our people safe if people won't report crimes in their own community?"

Middlecamp reports a threat to public health from "prenatal care foregone." She reports "one preventable amputation" disclosed by doctor who was "courageous" enough to step forward. The reluctance to speak on the record is "profoundly high" in a climate of "retribution," she says.

Middlecamp says school attendance fell below 50%. Events are cancelled in a way likened to the COVID pandemic, she says.

Middlecamp describes how a whistleblower disclosed the background of the "warrantless entries" seen in the Twin Cities area. “That’s not a mistake. That’s by design.”

Middlecamp describes the "indiscriminate use" of chemical spray leading to the need for "emergency aid" for a "6-month-old."

Middlecamp: "It is this overall atmosphere that we submit to the court has a very clear causal line."

Her colleague Brian Scott Carter answers judge's questions on the legal arguments.

Judge Menendez asks Carter's best argument. She says the first one feels "nebulous."

Menendez summarizes the first argument this way: An excessive use of federal law enforcement is causing the state and cities to expend so many resources that it violates the 10th Amendment by essentially commandeering.

When the judge asks for a citation for that principle, Carter responds that unprecedented nature of the government amassing "what is essentially an army" to "essentially stir the pot with conduct that is pervasive and includes illegal violent conduct."

Judge: "I appreciate that answer, Mr. Carter. I think it goes without saying that we’re in shockingly unusual times."

She questions whether that allows her to craft a remedy.

Carter: "The lawlessness we’ve seen, your honor, is jaw-dropping."

Judge: You understand that the federal government has a lot of power in this area, so I'm asking you what legal principle you wants me to apply.

Menendez asks whether she would have the power to halt the ICE surge if the 3,000 officers obeyed the law. Carter says, even if all 3,000 agents acted like "Boy Scouts," that it doesn't mean that it couldn't arise to coercion.

Carter says of Pam Bondi's letter to the state: "It’s a shakedown letter. It’s a ransom note." He says that Bondi demanded three things to end the surge. "Is the administration moving the field goal, moving the goal posts? Yes, they are. That’s what you expect from someone who is extorting you."

Menendez note that the conduct here is the subject of other litigation: "Isn't the answer to the flood of illegality to fight each illegal act?"

Arguments continue to circle around the anti-commandeering doctrine. Carter notes that one of Bondi's demands was repealing sanctuary jurisdiction laws.

Carter: "This administration is not content with the Rule of Law." The government put "violence on the streets" with "3,000 masked heavily armed agents" engaged in "violent illegal conduct." "That has to violate the 10th Amendment."