At least one of them has been told to pay attention and do what the judge says. This guy kept blowing off the deadlines he had been set, and now he’s paying for it. Admittedly, the fine won’t be that bad for him since lawyers make so much money, but he still has to pay it, and this may make him bonkers. Of course, he may blow that off too. His track record is nothing to be proud of. I appreciate Raw Story:
A federal judge sanctioned a Trump administration lawyer on Wednesday for repeatedly blowing off court orders in immigration detention cases, including failing to release a man the court had already ordered freed. Chief U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley of the Eastern District of California slapped DOJ attorney Jonathan Yu with a $250 fine after Yu missed multiple deadlines in a habeas corpus case involving an immigrant detained at the California City Correctional Center.
It’s hard to understand why lawyers repeatedly ignore orders from a judge. Do they think these things don’t apply to them? That’s sheer arrogance. The judge outranks the lawyer. And to do so multiple times? That’s playing with fire, and someone will get burned, just like this guy did.
The court had ordered the detainee’s immediate release on April 3. Yu failed to file a required compliance notice by April 6. When the judge issued a show-cause order asking why Yu shouldn’t be sanctioned, Yu missed that deadline, too, in the same case. Making matters worse, the freed detainee was stranded in Bakersfield without his identification documents, unable to travel home to Utah, and at risk of being re-arrested by DHS. The court ordered Yu to return the man’s passport and driver’s license and file a status update by April 10. Yu missed that deadline as well.
Dude is in *so* much trouble. Anyone who goes up against him should be concerned. He violates judges’ orders because he can? It certainly seems that way. One would think that the actions requested by the judge would be pretty simple. It seems Yu didn’t want to be bothered. If he’s going to do that sort of thing, he should move to private practice instead of screwing over immigrants.
Yu said he was been assigned over 300 immigration habeas cases in three months and was overwhelmed. But the judge wasn’t buying it. “The Court does not take such failures lightly. Compliance with court orders is not optional; it is a fundamental obligation of any attorney appearing before this Court. Respondents’ counsel’s conduct reflects a pattern of disregard for that obligation. Indeed, this is not an isolated incident. Respondents’ counsel does not contend he could not comply with the Court’s order, but rather, that he had higher priorities,” the judge wrote.
WHAM. Turned that lawyer into a puddle of goo on the floor. He should be running off with his tail between his legs. Will the reprimand and the fine make a difference to this guy? Maybe. There’s no real way to tell unless he ends up in the news again. None of us would want him as a lawyer anyhow because he apparently has very little idea of what he’s supposed to be doing. But then, we’re smart.
See you soon!
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise that among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest-working. We’re a group of elderly, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
Maybe if the guy blows off the fine, the judge’s next order should be “arrest the SOB for contempt of court” along with a reasonable fine–say, $25,000.
That would be great, and quite a bonus for our entertainment!