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'Willing to lie': Federal judge strips ICE of presumption of honesty, orders agency to turn over arrest records and bodycam footage after agent fabricated report (lawandcrime.com)
submitted 4 days ago by to c/news@lemmy.world
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A federal judge in Oregon says he can no longer assume ICE agents are telling the truth in their arrest paperwork, declaring Monday that live testimony is now "necessary" after finding that warrantless arrests are still being made and facts are being "fabricated in official records" by immigration officers.

In a 50-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai ruled that ICE repeatedly violated an existing court order governing warrantless immigration arrests in the Beaver State, with inaccurate reports, missing records and accounts that did not match what actually happened.

The judge's loss of confidence in the agency was so pronounced that he withdrew the usual presumption that government officials have properly performed their duties.

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[–] 23 points 4 days ago*

It's a legal principle called the presumption of regularity that legally requires the judge to assume that the government is acting in good faith when cases involving the government are heard.

The lawyers doing the litigation are not bound by it, but the judge is. The article mentions it by name in the very last paragraph.

"The presumption of regularity directs the courts to assume, unless clear evidence indicates differently, that government officials have properly discharged their duties, acted in good faith and followed required procedures."

It's a high evidentiary bar to overcome, but this judge had enough to throw it out. Pretty sure this decision, and others like it, are part of why Harmeet Dhillon is walking away from the Department of Justice now.

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