Posted on 05/20/2016 1:00:12 PM PDT by Kaslin
In a stunning rebuke to the Department of Justice Thursday, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ordered annual ethics classes for the DOJ attorneys who were "intentionally deceptive" during the course of executive amnesty litigation. At issue was whether the DOJ intentionally misled the judge into believing that Obama's DACA amnesty program would be halted until he made a ruling on a lawsuit brought by 26 states.
From November of 2014 until February of 2015, while the judge was still deciding the case, the Department of Homeland Security gave more than 108,000 illegal immigrants three-year reprieves. They did this after DOJ lawyers led him to believe that they would halt the program during that period. The 26 states who filed a lawsuit were thus misled into "foregoing a request for a temporary restraining order," Hanen wrote in his blistering decision. "Such conduct is certainly not worthy of any department whose name includes the word 'Justice.'"
The facts of the deception are not in doubt, Hanen emphasized. "[DOJ] has now admitted making statements that clearly did not match the facts," he said in the May 19 opinion, first noted by the National Law Journal. "It has admitted that the lawyers who made these statements had knowledge of the truth when they made these misstatements ... This court would be remiss if it left such unseemly and unprofessional conduct unaddressed."
As punishment, Justice Department attorneys who wish to appear in any state or federal court within the 26 states that brought the lawsuit have to undergo annual ethics training. "At a minimum, this course (or courses) shall total at least three hours of ethics training per year," he wrote.
In another case, such "egregious conduct" would lead him to strike the government's pleadings, but Hanen decided not to take that step because the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case in April.
"The national importance of the outcome of this litigation outweighs the benefits to be gained by implementing the ultimate sanction," Hanen wrote. "Striking the government's pleadings would not only be unfair to the litigants, but also unfair, and perhaps even disrespectful, to the Supreme Court as it would deprive that Court of the ability to thrash out the legal issues in this case."
Hanen cited multiple instances in which Justice Department attorneys claimed that Department of Homeland Security directive announced in November of 2014 would not be implemented until February 18, 2015, even though they knew that DHS had begun implementing a portion of the order that pertained to the original "deferred action for childhood arrivals" policy announced in 2012.
Justice Department attorney Kathleen Hartnett told Judge Hanen during a January 2015 hearing that nothing would be happening with regard to DACA until Feb. 18, 2015. On Feb. 16, 2015, Hanen sided with the states and issued a preliminary injunction blocking Obama's actions. Then he found out that the reprieves and work permits had been continuing all along.
That March, the exasperated judge chastised Hartnett for lying to him in January. “Like the judge, the states thought nothing was happening,” Hanen said. “Like an idiot, I believed that”:
A flustered Hartnett repeatedly apologized to Hanen for any confusion related to how the reprieves and work permits were granted.
"We strive to be as candid as possible. It truly became clear to us there was confusion on this point," she said.
Hanen seemed genuinely disappointed that he could not disbar the DOJ attorneys who lied to him, but he did ban them from practicing law in Texas:
The court does not have the power to disbar the counsel in this case, but it does have the power to revoke the pro hac vice status of out-of-state lawyers who act unethically in court. By a separate sealed order that it is simultaneously issuing, that is being done.
In the meantime, perhaps the court-ordered ethics classes will help the "confused" lawyers understand the concept of "justice" a little better.
I hope these ethics classes are held in a Laredo bario after midnight. Let these bums see what illegal immigration is really like.
Disbarred from practicing law in TX? That may or may not affect them much in their careers but that is a HUGE ruling to come down from the bench and is quite the blot on their records. (any actual lawyers here weigh in, please?) That’s a big smelly deal. The order to attend 3 hours of ethics classes isn’t spit. It’s typical for what masquerades as the “accountability” this admin so proudly trumpets.
There is only a limited amount of teaching of ethics that can take place after adolescence. Ethical conduct is a character trait. Either you have it, or you do not.
They should have been sentenced to a few years in a Mexican prison.
Ethics classes? Seriously? What about disbarring them or is it now okay for lawyers to lie to federal judges without significant consequences? Oh, that’s right, they’re all lawyers and everybody knows there is no truth in them.
At issue was whether the DOJ intentionally misled the judge into believing that Obama’s DACA amnesty program would be halted until he made a ruling on a lawsuit brought by 26 states.
*******************************
DACA = Deffered Action for Chidhood Arrivals
Obama enacting the DREAM Act that never passed Congress
DAPA = Deferred Action for Parents of Americans
Obama legalizing illegal aliens that either had children here or their children have been legalized by DACA.
None of these actions are legal.
Presidents cannot change laws.
Incorrect reporting.
The case is about DAPA, the second illegal amnesty for illegal aliens Obama unilaterally enacted.
DACA continues unhindered because we do not have an opposition party that would take him to court to get an injunction like the states did with DAPA.
Judges don’t like lawyers who lie to them.
Boy, some of these judges are kicking it in on the the
liberals lately. I guess it’s so obvious that the Trump
is going to win, it’s time to suck up for a chance at
that supreme court slot. The problem is, showing conservative
values isn’t going to get them cack. They need a more moderate
approach. And this judge has it down. Instead of disbarment
and a little jail time he goes for the slap on the wrist.
Way to go. Make a mockery of the court and facilitate the
invasion of criminal aliens into this country and all they
get is a pat on the hiney. Most impressive.
That arrogant pos occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave thinks he can
Hanen is a hero fighting upwind against the most criminal “Justice” department in modern history.
The attorneys should have been disbarred and jailed for perjury and contempt of court. Willful acts count as crimes, not oversights. They clearly did it on purpose out of contempt for him and the Federal Court.
And as a minimum, the idea that these “lawyers” should retain their jobs within the United States government after doing all of this and being caught is absurd. They have no place in our government. If they want see how far they can go as fly by night attorneys with serious punishments on their records, they can do that out of cheap storefronts on the wrong side of town, not marbled offices in D.C. on the taxpayer dime.
hey Judge Andrew Hanen, why not show you are really a no bullshit type of judge and throw some of these bastards in jail on contempt charges for say a year or so?
Make a difference there ass hat, not just spew more B.S. yourself!!!!
Deceptive Lawyers ?
Isn’t that a wee bit redundant?
This seems to discount the salvation found in Christ Jesus.
The nine in black robes seem to be able to.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2001/10/01/clinton-disbarred-from-supreme-court.html
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