Judge finds Florida attorney general in contempt of court for flouting immigration order

Miami Herald

a day ago

A Miami federal judge overseeing a major immigration case found Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt of court on Tuesday for violating her restraining order to stop enforcing a new state law that criminalizes undocumented immigrants when they arrive in Florida.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, who strongly criticized Uthmeier's conduct at a hearing last month, said the state attorney general crossed the line on April 23 when he informed police agencies 'there remains no judicial order that properly restrains you from' making arrests under Florida's immigration statute.
'Litigants cannot change the plain meaning of words as it suits them, especially when conveying a court's clear and unambiguous order,' Williams wrote in her contempt order, citing a passage from Lewis Carroll's classic, 'Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There.'
'Fidelity to the rule of law can have no other meaning.'
Must file reports on immigrant arrests to judge
As punishment, Williams ordered Uthmeier to 'file bi-weekly reports detailing whether any arrests, detentions, or law enforcement actions pursuant to [the statute] have occurred, and if so, how many, when, and by which law enforcement agency.'
The judge said the first report must be filed by July 1. She added that if any defendants in the case challenging the state law learn of any arrests, the attorney general must notify the court of the details of the arrest immediately.
She said Uthmeier can seek to modify or terminate her reporting requirements in six months.
Uthmeier, 37, is a Florida native who served as chief of staff for Gov. Ron DeSantis before he appointed him as the state's 39th attorney general in February. He has not appeared at a series of hearings before Williams.
READ MORE: Courting controversy: Florida's attorney general is no stranger to conflict
At first, Uthmeier seemed to obey the judge's restraining order when he instructed the Florida Highway Patrol and other police agencies on April 18 that they had to refrain from enforcing the immigration statute — after Williams learned FHP officers had arrested more than a dozen people for illegally entering the state under the new misdemeanor law, including a U.S. citizen.
Told cops they didn't have to abide by judge's order
But five days later, the attorney general did an about-face in his follow-up letter to the agencies, drawing the judge's wrath in a lawsuit brought by an immigration coalition and others challenging the constitutionality of the state law.
The late May hearing set the stage for Williams' decision on Tuesday, which could have led to a civil contempt fine up to $1,000 and/or jail time up to six months. There's no precedent for a state attorney general ignoring a federal judge's order, certainly not in the Southern District of Florida.
Uthmeier's defense lawyer, Jesse Panuccio, who formerly served in top positions in state government and the Justice Department under Republican administrations, said the judge was only focusing on a 'snippet' of the attorney general's April 23 letter to police agencies telling them they did not have to abide by the judge's order, not the whole context of his message.
At the hearing, Panuccio disputed the judge's assertion that the attorney general violated her restraining order.
'I don't think this letter is saying that — there is no evidence,' he said, adding that state police agencies have not made any additional arrests since April 18, the date of her second restraining order. 'There is no contempt.'
But a former federal prosecutor in Miami who specializes in civil litigation questioned the rationale of the attorney general's lawyer after listening to his argument.
'Half the parties in any proceeding think the court got it wrong when it rules against them,' attorney David S. Mandel told the Miami Herald. 'That's what the appellate court is there for. The losing party doesn't get to ignore the ruling in the meantime. That's 'Law 101.' '
Appeals panel backs Miami judge
On Friday, a federal court appeals panel in Atlanta rejected the attorney general's challenge to Williams' injunction blocking the enforcement of the state law criminalizing undocumented immigrants when they arrive in Florida.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit kept in place her order temporarily preventing police and prosecutors from making arrests and pursuing charges under Florida's SB-4, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in February.
Uthmeier's office generally opposed the judge's injunction on enforcement. He specifically argued that it was too broad because it applied not only to the named defendants, the attorney general and various state prosecutors, but also to unnamed defendants, including local, county and state police agencies.
In their ruling, the judges concluded that Uthmeier 'may well be right that the district court's order is impermissibly broad. But that does not warrant what seems to have been at least a veiled threat not to obey it.'
Uthmeier's TV commentary
During the hearing last month, Williams expressed umbrage not only with Uthmeier's letter to the state police agencies but also with his remarks in TV interviews and social media, as she paraphrased a few of his public comments: 'I'm not going to rubber stamp her order. ... I'm not going to ask law enforcement to stand down.'
'That's Mr. Uthmeier saying what he meant,' Williams told his attorney. 'It's pretty clear what he's saying.'
Uthmeier also expressed his dissatisfaction with Williams in a recent interview with FOX 35 in Orlando: 'This is Law 101,' he said. 'She doesn't have jurisdiction.'
At the hearing, an attorney representing immigrant groups that sued the state in Miami federal court said Uthmeier's letter was 'an attempt to evade and undermine the court's order.'
'It's clearly a contempt of court,' American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Cody Wofsy told Williams during the hearing.
READ MORE: Did Florida attorney general cross a line telling cops they can ignore a court order?
Uthmeier, whose views have been publicly backed by DeSantis, said the judge had no authority to order him to instruct FHP, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and other police agencies to refrain from arresting illegal immigrants upon arrival in the state because law enforcement officers are not named as defendants in the federal immigration case under Williams' review.
Jeremy Redfern, a spokesman for Uthmeier, characterized Williams' position as 'lawfare' by an 'Obama-appointed judge' on the social media site X, suggesting she has used her power as a legal weapon to thwart the Republican-led government's efforts to assist the Trump administration on immigration enforcement.
President Barack Obama appointed Williams to the Miami federal bench in 2010; the U.S. Senate confirmed her the following year.
Plaintiffs: State's new law is unconstitutional
The showdown between Williams and the state attorney general's office came nearly one month after the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Farmworker Association of Florida and others represented by ACLU lawyers filed suit in early April, saying the new state law is unconstitutional because only federal authorities have the power to enforce immigration laws.
Williams agreed on a preliminary basis, citing the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution, which says federal law takes precedence over state and local laws.
In late April, Williams said she was 'surprised and shocked' to learn that Uthmeier first told state police officers to obey her order not to arrest undocumented immigrants entering Florida but later said he 'cannot prevent' them from making arrests under the new state law.
Williams issued her preliminary injunction on April 29 prohibiting all state law enforcement official and police agencies, including FHP, from arresting undocumented immigrants who come into Florida.