Thumbs up to Minnesota Chief Federal Judge Patrick Schiltz for condemning and throwing out the Trump Department of Justice subpoenas served on Minnesota elected officials.
The Department of Justice, under acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, issued subpoenas to Gov. Tim Walz, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and Hennepin and Ramsey county boards. Ellison moved to quash the subpoenas shortly after they were issued in January.
Schiltz made the rare move of throwing the subpoenas out saying they were “risible” (laughable), were motivated by political retribution, were without merit and unconstitutional. He said they violated the 10th Amendment to the Constitution by requiring states to enforce federal laws, and the DOJ and Trump were retaliating against Minnesota officials for refusing to do so.
The subpoenas were issued in relation to the Operation Metro Surge of Immigration Agents in the Twin Cities earlier this year.
Schiltz’s 29-page opinion is a remarkable blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to weaponize the government and the DOJ against political opponents. Ellison called the quashing an “extremely rare” action for a federal judge.
Schiltz was appointed by President George W. Bush and once clerked for conservative Supreme Court Judge Antonin Scalia. He also once taught at the University of Notre Dame Law School where one of his students was current Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Schiltz also earlier this year called Blanche to appear before his court to answer to the justice department ignoring court orders. The department then started complying with orders after Schiltz pointed out ICE has ignored more court orders than any agency in history. He also threatened DOJ lawyers several times with contempt changes.
“This court will continue to do whatever is required to protect the rule of law, including, if necessary, moving to the use of criminal contempt. One way or another, ICE will comply with this court’s orders,” Schiltz told the DOJ, according to a report in the Star Tribune.
A founding member of the St. Thomas School of Law, Schiltz is a paragon of Minnesota jurisprudence. Minnesota is fortunate to have such a defender of the independence of the courts who is willing to exercise its power as a rightful constitutional check on excesses of the DOJ and White House.
St. James effort conserves energy, saves money
Thumbs up to the St. James community, Convivencia Hispana and the Region Nine Development Commission for their efforts to reach out, educate and encourage people to conserve energy and save money on their utility costs.
Convivencia Hispana organized an outreach program promoting grants to small communities for upgrading energy efficiency in their homes. Region Nine provided technical support, grant-writing assistance and project management.
The effort provided free energy audits to 143 households, about 8% of the St. James total. Grants provided funding for 42 homes to upgrade water heaters, furnaces and other equipment, with another 50 scheduled in the future.
The audits done by Center for Energy and Environment’s Home Energy Squad program showed great need for upgrades in many homes including some that had improperly connected water heaters that posed carbon monoxide poisoning dangers.
The project was funded in part by a $650,000 grant from U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It was also designed to address barriers that Hispanic and Latino families face participating in energy efficiency programs. That group makes up about 42% of the 4,800 people who live in St. James.
The program’s success was recently reported in a study by Resource Rural — a national program to provide resources in rural communities — as a model of successful rural clean energy programs.
It’s a great partnership and serves the goal of cutting consumer utility bills, providing safe equipment and saving energy for everyone.