The Boston Globe is reportingtoday that several DAs in Massachusetts are joining a coalition of public defenders and others in a lawsuit seeking to “ halt immigration agents from making civil arrests at state courthouses”.
The suit and the general response in Massachusetts to the recent indictment of a state court judge for alleged “obstruction of justice” -and nothing is more ironical than a Trump appointed US Attorney indicting anyone for that particular crime- recalls the Massachusetts led resistance to the Fugitive Slave law in the 1850s. Back then the feds were arresting alleged escaped slaves who were not, because they were black, entitled to a jury trial or to testify in their own defense. Now they are lurking in courthouses seeking out “illegal” immigrants. As the suit notes, it has long been the policy in this country that a person is immune from civil arrest while they are attending court.
As in the 1850s, the feds will remain on the wrong side of this issue, at least until a certain stable genius is himself inside a prison cell. Hats off to the folks in Massachusetts who are reviving a noble state tradition. It would be good to see similar resistance here in Connecticut.
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