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DOJ Files Misconduct Complaint Against Minnesota Judges

Did judges breach ethics by speaking to the press or are they defending judicial independence?
DOJ Files Misconduct Complaint Against Minnesota Judges
Above: Todd Blanche speaks at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice building on Sept. 30. Image credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The Spin


Pro-government narrative

Judges who sit down for lengthy press interviews about immigration cases still moving through their own courtrooms have traded impartiality for headlines. The Code of Judicial Conduct exists precisely to stop the bench from doubling as a political platform, and ignoring it shreds public confidence in a fair forum. Recusal and a real investigation are the bare minimum.

Government-critical narrative

Judges talking openly about judicial independence and the strain placed on the courts is exactly the kind of speech the ethics rules protect. Punishing a bipartisan bench appointed across two decades for explaining how the rule of law works is an attempt to intimidate the only branch still checking executive overreach. An independent judiciary cannot function under that kind of pressure.


Metaculus Prediction


© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 7.4.1

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 7.4.1