DOJ Attorney Avoids Discipline As Rhode Island Court Criticizes Ice’s Actions In Immigration Case
Adedokun Waliyu
3 min read
A federal court in Rhode Island declined on Tuesday to discipline a U.S. Department of Justice lawyer for not telling a judge that an immigration detainee was wanted in connection with a homicide investigation before she ordered him released.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island instead let Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Bolan off with a warning, opens new tab, but the court also issued a rare public statement accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of launching an “unfounded” public attack on the judge by falsely suggesting she knowingly released an immigrant wanted for murder.
The judge, Melissa DuBose in Providence, had referred Bolan for potential discipline last month after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a press release criticizing her decision to order the release of Bryan Rafael Gomez, a citizen of the Dominican Republic.
“The Court remains deeply concerned about the conduct by ICE officials that led to this incident and about the false statement issued by ICE reporting on the Gomez ruling, which remains online despite the government’s knowledge that it is false,” the court said in its statement, opens new tab on Tuesday.
Asked for comment, a spokesperson for DHS, which oversees ICE, pointed to a May 12 op-ed by its general counsel, James Percival, in the conservative outlet The Federalist calling DuBose an “activist” judge and defending the press release as “factually true.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island, where Bolan works, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DuBose, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, on April 28 ordered Gomez released from ICE custody, finding that he was held unlawfully pursuant to the policy that President Donald Trump’s administration implemented of subjecting immigration detainees to mandatory detention without the chance for bond hearings.
After DuBose ruled, DHS harshly criticized her two days later in a press release titled “Activist Biden Judge Releases Violent Criminal Illegal Alien Wanted for Murder.”
That prompted DuBose to order the government to show why officials should not be held in contempt for not notifying her of any facts relevant to assessing Gomez’s dangerousness or a criminal history.
Bolan, in response, apologized and said ICE had told him he was not allowed to disclose that information.
Based on his lack of disclosure, DuBose referred Bolan to the court’s disciplinary committee, leading the court to appoint Niki Kuckes of Roger Williams University as a special counsel to investigate the matter.
In a letter docketed on Tuesday, Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell said Kuckes found sufficient evidence to conclude Bolan’s conduct violated his ethical duties as a lawyer.
The judge, who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, called Bolan’s conduct “grave” but said the court concluded he personally “did not act for any deceitful or illicit reason.”
Rather than disciplining Bolan, McConnell said the court would docket his letter publicly to “serve as a caution to you, a statement of this Court’s expectations for government counsel in immigration cases and otherwise, and a public reminder of the critical importance the Court places on the duty of candor for all lawyers who appear before us.”
McConnell sharply criticized ICE for instructing Bolan not to tell DuBose about the homicide probe before then issuing its press release as part of an “unfounded public attack on Judge DuBose.” The press release remains available online.
“This false statement by ICE put her in personal danger and undermined public faith in the federal courts,” McConnell wrote.
To make matters worse, McConnell said, Gomez, following the press release, did not report back to ICE as subsequently ordered by DuBose. His whereabouts are not known, the court said.
