Claims That ICE Agents Were 'Just Following Orders' Won't Save Them From Liability

[guillaumeb]

From the article:

Claims That ICE Agents Were 'Just Following Orders' Won't Save Them From Liability for Children's Suffering, Legal Scholars Warn...

A new report finds that individual Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could be held personally liable for the suffering of families and children under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy—and warns that the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court could harm the chance of anyone being held accountable for the forcible separation of families.

To read more:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/11/claims-ice-agents-were-just-following-orders-wont-save-them-liability-childrens?cd-

[vlyons]

1. The Nuremberg defense

Guess they never heard of the Nuremberg trials of the Nazis at the end of WWII. High level Nazis claimed that they were "just following orders" from their superiors. Superior orders defense, aka the Nuremberg defense, did not save them from receiving death sentences.

[PJMcK]

3. See my post #2 below (n/t)

[guillaumeb]

7. But the US considers itself to be above the law.

And I am certain that Trump would hand out pardons like candy.

[PJMcK]

2. I hate to be a pessimist

Who is going to hold the ICE agents to account? Trump's Department of Justice?

Trump is getting away with destroying our country and the GOP Congress has done nothing to put a check on him. As he commits more crimes, they will tut-tut and move on.

The ICE agents aren't even a blip on the radar scope.

I'm sorry but it seems that everything that happens-- and that Trump does-- is always the worst possible choice.

[vlyons]

5. Things will change after the Nov election

Assuming that Dems take the House, there will be mucho House congressional investigations into all sorts of Trump era crimes and corruption. Then there's Mueller still quietly working away in the background.

“We must believe that the arc of the universe is long, but that it bends toward justice ..."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

[PJMcK]

13. I've been an optimist throughout my life

These days, not so much.

My pessimism doesn't accept that we'll have fair elections in November. Russians will once again hack our election systems. Republicans will cheat. I'll believe that Democratic candidates will prevail when the votes are counted.

Until then, the future looks bleak.

[guillaumeb]

8. At this point, you are correct.

Guantanamo has been a scandal for many years, and it has also fallen from the radar.

[Jim Lane]

14. The linked article is talking about civil suits by the victims, not criminal prosecutions

The affected families wouldn't need the DoJ's permission, nor would their case depend on the Democrats' taking one house of Congress (although Congressional investigations could certainly help the plaintiffs prove their case).

There are circumstances under which individual federal officers can be required to pay money damages to people whose rights they have violated. The big problem would be that the Trump-ized judiciary, notably the Supreme Court but also many lower courts, would interpret that well-established principle narrowly, or perhaps even overrule it entirely.

[smirkymonkey]

4. "Just following orders".

Hmmm, where have we heard that before?

[guillaumeb]

9. It does sound familiar.

But who would try these criminals?

[malaise]

6. Lock them up

NOW

[guillaumeb]

10. At Guantanamo?

THAT would be irony.

[malaise]

11. It would be very bad for the people of Cuba

No

[guillaumeb]

12. True. eom