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They have moved slowly, encumbered by a belief that a reversion to the old ways of #federal - #state cooperation might still be possible. The killings of #ReneeGood & #AlexPretti — & the federal response to those killings — ought to put this lingering nostalgia to rest. A return to the days of state-federal cooperation will not happen unless the #states reassert themselves to protect their citizens & punish federal #lawlessness.

#law #Trump #CivilRights #UseOfForce #ICE #CBP #Sturmabteilung


Unlike these constitutional cases, a public-nuisance complaint flexes a well-recognized & historically based exercise of #state #sovereignty. True, its application is novel. But that simply tells us that we live in a moment of new political challenges.

Until now, #states & #cities have been in denial about those challenges. They have not grasped the profound & potentially irreversible rupture in #federal-state relations that’s under way.

#law


To be clear, a public-nuisance suit would face daunting odds. It might seem implausible on its face to say #ICE is a “nuisance,” especially before one accounts for the #ReneeGood & #AlexPretti killings. But #states need to reach for every possible tool to meet the moment. And the legal theory behind a public-nuisance ICE injunction stands on firmer ground than the #TenthAmendment suits filed in recent weeks by #Minnesota & #Illinois.

#law


Minnesota’s public-nuisance #law has a useful wrinkle—one that other #states worried about prospective #ICE deployments would do well to imitate. It allows #attorneys for the state to obtain injunctions against a “criminal gang.” A gang, in #Minnesota law, is simply “any” group of people who repeatedly violate certain #criminal laws. It doesn’t matter whether they work for the Latin Kings or #StephenMiller. What matters is that they create an ongoing risk of #violent #harm to the #public.


#States have reached beyond this sort of historical usage recently, employing public-nuisance laws creatively even when the problem is not tied to one specific piece of land. For instance, they have brought public-nuisance suits against opioid makers, gun sellers, companies responsible for lead contamination, & Confederate monuments. Public-nuisance #law has proved a malleable stopgap when other kinds of regulation fail.


Many #states have what’s called a public-nuisance #law. This allows the state to go to court & get an injunction against the use of a property in ways that disrupt life for many around it, such as, for example, if a quarry produces noise & vibrations that make it hard for those in the neighborhood to sleep, or if the odors of a feedlot make using a particular street intolerable.


In practical effect, this would be a device to transform ICE’s #obstruction into not just a violation of #state #law, but also of a #federal-court order.

#Criminal #liability by its nature comes too late to stop harms from happening. #States such as #Minnesota should also look to #CivilLaw as a basis for stopping baleful & unlawful #ICE tactics. This also requires some creative thinking—taking a legal tool designed for other purposes & fitting it to our new reality.


#Minnesota & other #states would thus do well to shore up their capacity to get a rapid federal-court injunction against #EvidenceTampering. For technical reasons, there is a specific way to make sure this possibility is always available∶ Enact a #law that allows a state’s atty to seek damages of >$75k against anyone who has violated the constitutional rights of a MN citizen. Then allow the state’s atty to file suit in federal court, & to expeditiously seek a bench warrant to preserve #evidence.


…when a direct path to #justice is blocked, #states need to find a work-around. The federal prosecution of the #Minneapolis officers responsible for #GeorgeFloyd’s death offers a model. E.G., officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, & Alexander Kueng were held criminally liable for acts beyond the killing. 1st, they failed to provide medical assistance to Floyd as he was dying. 2nd, Lane & Kueng made misleading omissions, while Kueng also lied to investigators in the immediate aftermath of Floyd’s death.