Judge Fred Biery has developed a reputation for humor and an insistence on courtroom courtesy. He once ordered a set of contrary lawyers to kiss on the lips in front of the Alamo with cameras present. He has ordered other mis-behaving lawyers to sit in timeout in the rotunda of the old Federal courthouse. I previously wrote about Judge Biery here. He quotes songs and movies in his opinions. He prefers humor when he can. So, when Judge Biery expresses anger in an opinion, we should all take notice.

In the case of Arias v. Noem, No. SA-26-CV-425, the Judge is angry. This case concerns a writ of habeas corpus filed for one Liam Conejo Arias. The little boy who was arrested in Minneapolis wearing a bunny ears hat and sporting a Spiderman backpack. Just five years old, he was used as bait by ICE to lure his father and mother out of their house. Little Liam was sent to the immigration facility in Dilley, Texas.

Writ of Habeas Corpus

Judge Berry ordered that the writ be granted and that Liam be released. The Judge could have simply issued a one sentence order granting the writ. But, he issued a three page order that chastises and even lectures the Federal government. He starts by acknowledging that he has deported many immigrants in his thirty years as a Federal Judge:

“The case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children. This Court and others regularly send undocumented people to prison and orders them deported but do so by proper legal procedurs.”

He then discusses provisions of the Declaration of Independence which objected to authoritarian government practices in 1776. Referring to the detention of Liam, he notes correctly that this “perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty” knows no bounds. He points out that the government has “damned” the rule of law . He mentions Ben Franklin’s famous quote that we have a republic “if we can keep it.” He then closes with a a reference to how he sees his role: “With a judicial finger in the constitutional dike.” The Judge then included a picture of little Liam wearing his bunny hat standing alone in the cold Minnesota day.

The Judge then cites two verses from the Bible below Liam’s picture: Matthew 19:14 and John 11:35. In the verse from Matthew, Jesus tells his followers to let the children come to him. John 11:35: “Jesus begins to weep.” Yes, Judge, we are sure Jesus shed a few tears over the arrest of a five year old boy wearing a bunny ears hat.

See Judge Biery’s opinion here.