A municipal judge in Lone Tree this summer improperly warned a defendant that the court would report him to federal immigration authorities — an unusual act that has drawn condemnation from immigrant rights groups and defense attorneys.
On July 18, Judge Lou Gresh was advising an individual accused of shoplifting when he said that “we report all illegal immigrants to ICE for deportation, as shoplifting is a deportable offense under federal law,” according to court recordings reviewed by The Denver Post.
Michelle Ahronovitz, a defense attorney in the courtroom that day, said she looked around, unsure whether she had heard the judge correctly. Never in her career had she heard a judge utter those words from the bench, she said.
“There was definitely some implicit bias and implicit racism going on,” she said in an interview. “It was definitely one of the more horrifying municipal court experiences I’ve had as an attorney.”
Gresh, through a city spokesperson, declined an interview for this story.
In a statement, city officials said Lone Tree does not contact immigration authorities about municipal court defendants. The judge that day must have misspoken while referring to the city’s advisement ensuring all defendants understand that convictions or guilty pleas may have consequences on their immigration status, said Melissa Gallegos, the city spokesperson.
Nicole Cervera Loy, policy and campaigns manager at the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, called the judge’s language a “gross misuse of judicial power” and said the city needs to immediately investigate his conduct.
“The actions taken were deeply inappropriate and undermine the justice system,” Loy said. “The courtroom should be a place where justice is served, not a place where people feel intimidated or fearful.”
Multiple judges and defense attorneys told The Post they had never heard of judges saying they will report defendants in their courtroom to immigration authorities.
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Colorado law protects individuals from being arrested while present at a courthouse or while going to or from court proceedings. But there are no statutes that expressly prohibit judges from calling immigration authorities.
Still, three Colorado municipal court judges told The Post that warning they will contact immigration should not be part of taking a plea or imposing a sentence.
“If you say things like, ‘I’ll threaten to call the authorities,’ you’ve probably gone over the line,” one judge told The Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to talk candidly about another sitting judge. “That’s no longer an advisement — that sounds like a threat. There’s a difference between advising a consequence and threatening a consequence.”
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