A Judge Just Drew the Line on the Supreme Court's Terrible "Kavanaugh Stops" Decision

"In the fast-moving law of immigration sweeps, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell issued a major opinion on Tuesday limiting the warrantless arrests taking place in the District of Columbia. The Trump administration had relied on an earlier shadow-docket order, Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo, which lifted an injunction prohibiting immigration officers from stopping people solely because of their presumed race, location, or use of Spanish."

"Dahlia Lithwick: Judge Howell blockedThe high court seems to have signaled that this kind of racial profiling is actually OK under the Fourth Amendment. So what did these plaintiffs argue here instead? warrantless immigration arrests without probable cause and held that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection have been systematically breaking the law by arresting people because they ... pretty much just look Latino."

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell limited warrantless immigration arrests in the District of Columbia, finding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection had arrested people based on presumed Latino appearance, location, or Spanish language use. Howell rejected reliance on a Supreme Court shadow-docket order, Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo, noting the high court's one-paragraph stay lacked explanation and therefore lacked persuasive authority. A Washington Post report indicated over 80 percent of 932 D.C. immigration arrests during the crackdown involved people with no criminal record. Podcast hosts characterized the arrests as a largely illegal terror campaign and discussed the ruling.

Read at Slate Magazine