Last Sunday, we discussed a number of cases pending in front of federal district judges in Minneapolis. Friday night, one of them, Judge John Tunheim, dropped a decision that is well worth your time--even on a Friday night. It involves allegations from people detained by ICE that their property was seized and not returned to them. Another word for that might be theft, although one supposes it could also be the result of extraordinary carelessness. Federal law enforcement agents routinely collect, and subsequently return, the possessions of people they detain. But that isn't happening here.

Judge Tunheim felt so much urgency about the matter than he got his ruling out on a Friday night, not a typical time for a federal judge to be finishing up at work. But he decided it was time to deliver a reckoning to the Trump administration and apparently, didn't want to delay. His order starts like this:

"During Operation Metro Surge, ICE repeatedly failed to return personal property to detainees ordered released by the Court. In some cases, weeks after their release, and in violation of Court orders, Petitioners continue to be deprived of access to their most essential physical possessions, intensifying the harm of their unlawful arrests and presenting further risks to their safety, liberty, and well-being."

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Judge Tunheim says that the former detainees can submit claims for their "lost or missing property." Then, he directs the government to "promptly remedy all ongoing violations of Court orders in these cases by compensating all claims submitted by Petitioners." He gives the government 30 days to do that. It's not entirely clear but I read this as saying "all" submitted claims must be paid. The government doesn't get to evaluate the claims or argue about the dollar amount. It just has to pay up. In 30 days.

Then comes the kicker. The Judge says that holding the government, which here would mean the U.S. Attorney and other officials, in contempt "is not the appropriate action yet,"....."but." "But" does a lot of heavy lifting here and Judge Tunheim doesn't beat around the bush in clarifying just how disturbing the Trump administration's conduct has been. He writes, "the Court directs Respondents," (that's the government here), to handle the claims "with the same urgency that it used when arresting and transporting detainees, including these Petitioners, out of the state of Minnesota during Operation Metro Surge." Ouch.

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