DOJ Files Misconduct Complaint Against Minnesota Judges
The Facts
- The Justice Department (DOJ) filed a judicial misconduct complaint Wednesday with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals against all but one of Minnesota's active federal district judges over interviews with The New York Times.
- Attorney General Todd Blanche said the judges commented on cases, some still pending, in what the DOJ views as a clear violation of their ethical duties, and alleged "an obvious bias" against the Department of Homeland Security.
- The complaint names Judges Patrick Schiltz, a George W. Bush appointee, and John Tunheim, a Bill Clinton appointee, along with unnamed district judges. It asks the appeals court to open an investigation into their conduct.
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The Spin
Pro-government narrative
Judges who sit down for lengthy press interviews about immigration cases still moving through their own courtrooms have traded impartiality for headlines. The Code of Judicial Conduct exists precisely to stop the bench from doubling as a political platform, and ignoring it shreds public confidence in a fair forum. Recusal and a real investigation are the bare minimum.
Government-critical narrative
Judges talking openly about judicial independence and the strain placed on the courts is exactly the kind of speech the ethics rules protect. Punishing a bipartisan bench appointed across two decades for explaining how the rule of law works is an attempt to intimidate the only branch still checking executive overreach. An independent judiciary cannot function under that kind of pressure.
