Earlier
this
morning,
FBI
Director
and
Big
Lie
children’s
book
author
Kash
Patel
announced
that
the
FBI
had
arrested
a
Wisconsin
judge.
Befitting
a
serious
law
enforcement
operation,
Patel
posted
it
on
social
media
in
a
post
he’s
already
deleted.
Almost
as
though
someone
with
an
actual
grasp
of
how
law
enforcement
is
supposed
to
work
intervened
to
counsel
against
a
speaking
not-actually-an-indictment
outlining
the
judge’s
alleged
crime,
which
amounts
to
refusing
to
surrender
her
plenary
power
over
her
courtroom
to
thugs
nabbing
random
minorities
and
sending
them
to
El
Salvador.
As
the
Brennan
Center
notes,
there’s
a
reason
why
judges,
generally,
oppose
ICE
using
their
courthouses
to
make
arrests.
“Back
in
2018,
nearly
a
hundred
judges
wrote
to
the
Trump
Admin
to
say
that
when
ICE
shows
up
to
courthouses
it
scares
away
people
who
need
to
access
the
courts
to
keep
them
and
their
communities
safe.”
This
fear
is
magnified
when
the
administration
is
already
on
record
that
they
aren’t
concerned
about
accidentally
sending
someone
they
pick
up
to
an
El
Salvadoran
gulag.
Why
would
someone
originally
from
another
country
trust
the
courts
to
protect
their
tenants’
rights
or
help
them
get
child
support
if
they
know
ICE
will
camp
out
at
the
courthouse
and
doesn’t
particularly
care
if
the
people
they
nab
actually
have
legal
status?
This
is
not
the
first
time
the
Trump
administration
has
tried
to
go
after
a
judge.
Back
in
2019,
the
government
charged
a
Massachusetts
judge
with
obstruction
of
justice,
claiming
the
judge
schemed
to
let
the
man
wanted
by
immigration
officials
sneak
out
a
back
door
of
the
courthouse
after
a
hearing.
Those
charges
were
ultimately
dropped,
avoiding
a
confrontation
with
the
legal
twilight
zone
of
cops
using
courtrooms
as
sting
operations
without
the
consent
of
the
judge.
But
even
that
judge
wasn’t
arrested.
The
agents
of
Law
&
Order:
Clown
Car
Unit
did
not
give
Judge
Dugan
an
opportunity
to
surrender,
instead
getting
treated
like
a
violent
criminal
for
allegedly
refusing
to
sacrifice
her
courtroom
sovereignty.
The
absolute
power
a
judge
wields
over
their
courtroom
is
steeped
in
the
dusty
volumes
of
Ye
Olde
English
law
that
originalists
love
to
selectively
cite.
They
are
gods
in
that
room
and
while
there
should
be
repercussions
for
abusing
that
power
—
like,
when
they
harass
and
intimidate
innocent
children
—
judges
enjoy
massive
deference
to
execute
the
judicial
function.
Part
of
that
judicial
function
is
marking
a
clear
delineation
between
executive
law
enforcement
and
the
role
of
the
judge
—
and
making
sure
judges
aren’t
just
fancy
executive
branch
deputies
requires
judges
being
able
to
control
their
courthouses.
And
yet
that’s
where
they
arrested
Judge
Dugan,
choosing
to
nab
her
at
8
a.m.
at
the
Milwaukee
County
Courthouse
instead
of,
you
know,
her
home….
Franklyn
Gimbel,
a
prominent
Milwaukee
defense
attorney
and
former
federal
prosecutor,
called
Dugan’s
arrest
“outrageous.”“First
and
foremost,
I
know
—
as
a
former
federal
prosecutor
and
as
a
defense
lawyer
for
decades
—
that
a
person
who
is
a
judge,
who
has
a
residence
who
has
no
problem
being
found,
should
not
be
arrested,
if
you
will,
like
some
common
criminal,”
Gimbel
said.
“And
I’m
shocked
and
surprised
that
the
US
Attorney’s
office
or
the
FBI
would
not
have
invited
her
to
show
up
and
accept
process
if
they’re
going
to
charge
her
with
a
crime.”
Yes,
but
arresting
her
at
her
home
would
not
entail
the
same
performative
disrespect
for
the
rule
of
law
as
rolling
up
on
a
courthouse
to
arrest
a
judge.
This
is,
of
course,
the
lens
through
which
every
Trump
administration
action
must
be
viewed.
It’s
why
it
goes
up
on
social
media
before
they
can
get
an
indictment.
It’s
why
they
keep
moving
people
in
violation
of
court
orders.
And
it’s
why
they
keep
playing
photoshop
with
tattoos.
So,
yes,
they
wanted
to
arrest
a
judge.
And,
yes,
they
wanted
to
make
sure
it
was
a
splashy
event
in
a
courthouse.
It’s
ALL
a
pageant
for
the
purpose
of
eroding
faith
in
the
rule
of
law.
Amazing
that
the
people
who
dress
in
robes
are
not
the
cosplayers
in
this
scenario.
On
the
other
hand,
the
guy
whose
qualification
to
run
the
FBI
is
writing
a
fairy
tale
for
4-year-olds
about
the
2020
election
putting
on
a
farce
totally
tracks.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.