The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has formally reprimanded Judge Shelley Joseph, finding she “created an appearance of impropriety in violation of her duties” during a 2018 courtroom episode involving an illegal alien wanted on a Pennsylvania fugitive warrant. The reprimand, issued September 10, closes a case that has spanned nearly eight years and multiple stages of federal and state action.
The episode began in April 2018, when Oscar Manuel Peguero, who also used the alias Jose Medina-Perez, appeared in a Massachusetts courtroom presided over by Joseph following a drug possession arrest. Peguero had an outstanding warrant as a fugitive from justice in Pennsylvania, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement had lodged a detainer against him the day he was arrested. That detainer was not honored.
ICE agents were stationed outside the courtroom expecting to take Peguero into custody. Prosecutors say Joseph instead allowed Peguero to leave through a back exit door, avoiding the agents waiting for him, and had the courtroom’s audio recording shut off during the proceeding.
In 2019, Joseph was charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, aiding and abetting obstruction of justice, and aiding and abetting obstruction of a federal proceeding. The Biden administration dropped those charges in 2022. The Supreme Judicial Court’s reprimand this month is the first formal sanction Joseph has faced over the incident.
Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival told Breitbart News the reprimand should serve as a warning beyond Massachusetts.
“This judicial misconduct reflects what DHS is facing across the country. Certain judges think it is their duty to undermine, rather than enforce, federal immigration law. Helping illegal aliens escape from immigration officers is a felony. Sanctuary politicians and sanctuary judges alike are on notice,” Percival said.
Peguero’s immigration history spans more than two decades. He first entered the United States illegally in January 2003, flying into Boston and falsely claiming U.S. citizenship; he was arrested and deported that same month. In April 2007, he illegally crossed the southern border through New Mexico and was again arrested, then deported a second time in June 2007. At a later, unspecified date, he crossed the border illegally once more.
The case has become a reference point in the broader national argument over how far state and local officials, including judges, can go in shielding people from federal immigration enforcement.
“The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has formally reprimanded Judge Shelley Joseph, finding she “created an appearance of impropriety in violation of her duties””
YHGTBKM! Some ‘gentle’ “slap on the wrist? Why is this “judge” not in jail? That is where those who are guilty of aiding and abetting criminals, including ‘illegal alien’ criminals, should be residing. Certainly, not continuing to reside on any judicial bench! As John Stossel would say, “GIVE ME A BREAK.”