In our look back at news of the week, a Massachusetts judge and a court officer were charged in federal court with helping a man in the country illegally evade an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent last year.
The pair allegedly came up with a plan to allow the man to use a back door in the Newton courthouse to escape while the ICE agent was waiting.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said this week the case is about the rule of law and that the actions by Judge Shelley Richmond and court officer Wesley MacGregor were a crime.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey disagreed, saying the indictment is a “radical and politically motivated attack on our state and the independence of our courts.”
Panelist Natalia Muñoz said she agrees with Healey.
“I think this is coming down really hard on a judge on an issue that could be addressed in another forum,” Muñoz said. “I also think we live in very politicized times, especially with immigration issues. I wish I would have known more about what allegedly compelled these two court officers to go to bat for this person without a visa.”
Panelist Larry Parnass said he thinks the state judge did the wrong thing, if the case against her is accurate.
“But I think the question the attorney general makes about who should have handled this has some merit, too,” he said. “I think it really should have been something that the trial court looked after. It does watch its own court, its own proceedings, and I think it would have dealt with this.”
Muñoz said Healey was not implying the law wasn’t broken.
“There are judges across the land that do break the law, and on a variety of issues,” Muñoz said. “And she’s basically spotlighting this seems more of a political maneuver than really wanting to address the issue at hand.”
Parnass said the alleged act seems more serious than a political maneuver.
“I mean, she faces up to what, more than 10 years of possible prison time, so it’s a significant action by the federal government,” he said.
“Right, and it’s overreach,” Muñoz said.
Meanwhile, the interim president of Hampshire College says his school has a plan to move forward, even as it will have to prove to a commission next month why it should remain accredited. Ken Rosenthal said that by downsizing the school, raising more funds and strengthening its leadership, Hampshire should be able to satisfy the New England Commission of Higher Education.
Also this week, Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton announced he's launching a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. Moulton might be best known for saying he wanted someone other than Nancy Pelosi to become speaker of the U.S. House — but eventually he did end up supporting her.
Guests:
- Larry Parnass, investigations editor, The Berkshire Eagle
- Natalia Muñoz, host of Vaya Con Muñoz on WHMP
