Does Florida's Attorney General, JAMES UTHMEIR, need to be sent back to law school for retreading? Under fetid Florida Governor RONALD DION DeSANTIS, our feculent former St. Johns County Congress-critter, we've seen enough contempt for the Rule of Law. Enough already. From Florida Phoenix:
U.S. judge contemplates holding AG Uthmeier in contempt of court
‘There needs to be an appreciation and abiding by court order, or else this all becomes anarchy.’
Attorney General James Uthmeier speaks during a National Day of Prayer event at the Capitol complex on May 1, 2025. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)
MIAMI — A federal judge locked horns repeatedly with the prominent lawyer defending Attorney General James Uthmeier during a hearing Thursday on potential sanctions against the state’s top legal officer amid a suit over a new state immigration law.
U.S. Judge Kathleen Williams stated multiple times that Uthmeier was not above the law and that he had to abide by the court’s orders. But Uthmeier may emerge from the legal quarrel relatively unscathed despite drawing Williams’ ire for calling illegitimate and unlawful her order temporarily blocking the immigration law that led to the arrest of a U.S. citizen.
Although it would be extraordinary for a judge to hold a Florida attorney general in contempt, the sanctions discussed during the hearing included having Uthmeier issue another directive, which she offered to write, to law enforcement clarifying that they can’t enforce a law making it a first-degree misdemeanor for a person to enter the state as an “unauthorized alien.”
“There needs to be an appreciation and abiding by court order, or else this all becomes anarchy,” Williams said.
Uthmeier didn’t attend the hearing.
Redress for wrongful arrests
Plaintiffs’ attorneys — from the ACLU Foundation of Florida, ACLU Foundation Immigrants’ Rights Project, Americans For Immigrant Justice, and Community Justice Project — also want the judge to make the state pay their fees and establish a way to provide legal help for anyone who may have been arrested under the state law after April 18.
The groups filed the suit on behalf of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida, and two women lacking permanent legal status.
An investigation by the Tampa Bay Times found that law enforcement arrested 25 people after Williams first blocked the law on April 4, but didn’t find any arrests after April 18, when Williams ordered Uthmeier to notify law enforcement about her order. Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen from Georgia, was one of those arrested by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper. The 20-year-old’s arrest, first reported by Florida Phoenix, garnered international attention.
Uthmeier’s letter could lead to sanctions
At the heart of the hearing was a letter Uthmeier sent to law enforcement agencies, sheriffs, and police chiefs on April 23, stating that he couldn’t stop them from making arrests under SB 4C, and that, in his view, “no lawful, legitimate order currently impedes your agencies from continuing to enforce Florida’s new illegal entry and reentry laws.”
The April 23 letter came after another that Uthmeier had sent five days earlier, following Williams’ order, stating that no arrests should take place.
Uthmeier brought in Jesse Panuccio, who’d been acting U.S. associate attorney general for parts of President Donald Trump’s first term, to represent him on Thursday. Panuccio got into heated back-and-forths with Williams over what he called an unfair interpretation of the letter that took it out of context.
Panuccio, whom Uthmeier had named co-chairman of his transition team following his appointment as AG three months ago, scolded the judge for bringing up comments Uthmeier made in interviews and for talking about his social media posts.
“You invited me to consider context, and I am considering context,” Williams said to Panuccio.
Elected or appointed officials, such as Uthmeier, shouldn’t be policed over the comments they make in public as part of their job, Panuccio said. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Uthmeier, his then-chief of staff, to the top legal spot in the state in February.
“They do engage in puffery that has been part of our politics since the dawn of the republic,” Panuccio said.
Continued oversight on arrests
The judge is also contemplating requiring the defendants to submit weekly or monthly reports on arrests under the suspended law. The lack of reported arrests pointed to a consensus that Uthmeier’s letter didn’t violate the court order, Panuccio said.
Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, told the judge that the lack of arrests didn’t exempt Uthmeier from the consequences of disobeying her order.
“It’s not because of the attorney general’s conduct, it’s in spite of it,” Wofsy said.
Leading up to the hearing, Uthmeier said during an interview that aired on Newsmax on May 6 that he wouldn’t rubber stamp her order.
Williams brought up that interview when she said she could write another letter and make Uthmeier send it to law enforcement groups.
“He need have no qualm about it being authorized by him,” she said.
Uthemeier and the other defendants — the statewide prosecutor and state’s attorneys — have appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Williams’ injunction barring enforcement of the law.
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2 comments:
The state executive and federal executive authoritarians have contempt for our democratic system, and checks and balances. They want to do whatever they please regardless of any negative consequences that might have to other people's lives!
"The Supreme Court handed down an opinion on Thursday that reads like it was written by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, the authors of an influential book arguing that excessive regulation of land use and development has made it too difficult to build housing and infrastructure in the United States." - Vox
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