The justice system is the epitome of how Americans think the government works: slow, powerful, mysterious and constant.

It is a beacon of measured consistency and stability, tied to an idea of a system where everyone is equal and no one is above the law. It may not always be popular, but in a world where an increasingly partisan legislature and controversial executive dominate the headlines, the subtle reasoning of the judicial system is nice to rely on.

So, when political controversy throws the judiciary system into chaos, that should be a cause for concern, especially when that chaos is planted right on our doorstep.

Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, the top federal prosecutor in the state and a University of Minnesota graduate, is currently stuck between a rock and a hard place, fighting contempt of court charges, dealing with mass resignations and the ripple effects of Operation Metro Surge. This would be a lot for any attorney or official to handle, especially for Rosen, who entered his role with no criminal prosecution experience. 

It should be acknowledged, however, that the federal government brought these issues down on itself by attempting to abuse the legal system for its own gain.

Many of the issues faced by our local U.S. Attorney’s office are tied back to Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity during Operation Metro Surge. And Rosen has had to defend himself from being held in contempt of court at multiple hearings for the federal government’s failure to return the property of unlawfully detained immigrants in dozens of cases.

This is one of the most unusual and disturbing things that can happen in a legal district, according to University associate law professor Samuel Merchant. Lawyers working for the federal government usually attempt to build goodwill with federal courts, to build credibility and work toward their common goal.

“Any threats to that goodwill are highly unusual, and it’ll take years, if not decades, to rebuild that in these districts because judges can’t take the United States at their word,” Merchant said.

A Minnesota federal judge held a different Department of Justice attorney in contempt in February after the government released a man from ICE custody without his documents, even ordering a $500 fine for each day the documents were not returned. 

These actions represent an increasingly fractured relationship between federal prosecutors and the courts.

It’s little surprise, then, that the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s office has seen waves of lawyers resign from their positions since the shooting of Renee Good.

Merchant said part of what may be driving these resignations is the desire to avoid doing things that result in disciplinary actions, such as contempt citations or disbarment. These disciplinary citations can follow lawyers throughout their careers.

“In order to maintain their bar license and admission into these courts, they have to maintain a certain status with the courts and the bar association,” Merchant said. “They have to be in good standing.”

The investigation into the shooting of Good also prompted career prosecutors to resign, particularly due to the DOJ’s push to investigate Good’s wife and treat the killing as an assault on an ICE agent.

It should be noted that when deciding whether to prosecute or take action against a person, the Justice Manual forbids government attorneys from taking political association, activities or beliefs into account.

Due to these resignations and the DOJ’s own actions, the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s office is left understaffed, prompting officials to sideline pressing and important priorities after the height of cases following Operation Metro Surge.

Merchant said these frequent resignations pose numerous risks for justice in Minnesota, as the loss of institutional knowledge and prosecutorial and court capacity could lead to more cases being put on the back burner, especially when a large number of cases flood in quickly.

“This type of thing has the potential to have catastrophic effects on at least the federal justice system in Minnesota,” Merchant said. “There are all kinds of problems with these kinds of resignations.”

One major matter affected has been the investigations into social services fraud in Minnesota after Joe Thompson, an experienced attorney prosecuting these fraud cases, resigned, citing the decision to investigate Good’s widow and exclude the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from the investigation into Good’s death.

Any delay in the federal legal system in Minnesota is a delay in justice in our state, and this delay can slow down criminal prosecutions and allow crime to fall through the cracks. But what’s truly striking about these delays, resignations and contempt hearings is how avoidable they were. 

Had the federal government given wrongfully detained immigrants their property back, followed the standard procedure in Good’s case, and not cracked down so hard during Operation Metro Surge, the U.S. Attorney’s office would have a larger staff and likely not be facing the issues that it is.

This is the inherent problem with weaponizing the legal system for political benefit. Justice suffers, and we all suffer with it.