A Lone Tree judge improperly warned a defendant this summer that the court would report him to federal immigration authorities, an unusual move that drew condemnation from immigrant rights groups and defense attorneys.
According to court recordings reviewed by The Denver Post, on July 18, Judge Lou Gresh advised an individual accused of shoplifting and said, “Because shoplifting is a deportable crime under federal law, all of illegal immigrants to ICE for deportation.”
Defense attorney Michelle Aaronowitz, who was in the courtroom that day, said she looked around, unsure if she heard the judge correctly. She said she had never heard a judge utter such words from a courtroom in her career.
“There was definitely implicit bias and implicit racism,” she said in an interview. “It was definitely one of the most frightening experiences I’ve had in district court as a lawyer.”
Gresh, through a city spokesperson, declined to be interviewed for this article.
City officials said in a statement that Lone Tree has not contacted immigration officials about the defendants in city court. City spokeswoman Melissa Gallegos said the judge that day, citing the city’s recommendation that all defendants understand that a conviction or guilty plea can affect their immigration status, said: He said he must have made a mistake.
Nicole Cervera-Roy, policy and campaigns manager for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, called the judge’s language a “gross abuse of judicial power” and said the city needs to immediately investigate the judge’s conduct. Ta.
“This action was highly inappropriate and undermined our justice system,” Roy said. “Courtrooms should be places where justice is served, not places where people feel intimidated or afraid.”
Multiple judges and defense attorneys told the Post they had never heard a judge say they would report a defendant in court to immigration authorities.
Colorado law protects individuals from being arrested while attending court or while traveling to or from court. However, there is no law that explicitly prohibits judges from calling immigration authorities.
Still, three Colorado district court judges told the Post that threatening to contact immigration authorities should not be part of the plea or sentence.
“If you say something like, ‘I’m going to threaten to call the authorities,’ you’re probably crossing the line,” one judge told The Post on condition of anonymity to speak candidly about another sitting judge. “It no longer sounds like advice, it sounds like a threat. There’s a difference between advising about consequences and threatening about consequences.”
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First Published: October 26, 2024 at 6:00 AM
