Federal Judge Charges Marshals With Criminal Contempt For Being... You Know, Contemptuous

Not exactly the historic agency's finest look.

The judicial branch may not sign the paychecks of the U.S. Marshals Service, but make no mistake, the organization does two things: work for the federal courts and fail to catch Dr. Richard Kimble. So when marshals start thumbing their noses at federal judges, it’s a serious problem. When that disrespect is allegedly coordinated at the highest levels of the agency, it approaches an interbranch crisis.

Don’t worry, I’m sure Merrick Garland will get right on ignoring this too.

The Washington Post has an absolutely bonkers story out of South Dakota where U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann outlined criminal contempt charges against three Marshals Service officials: Marshal Daniel Mosteller of the District of South Dakota, his Chief Deputy Marshal Stephen Houghtaling, and U.S. Marshals Service Chief of Staff John Kilgallon.

“Each of you is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, contempt of court,” said the judge, setting a Sept. 13 trial date, and requesting that the U.S. attorney’s office prosecute the case. If the office declines, the judge said, he would appoint a prosecutor.

What happened? The judge asked a deputy in his courtroom if she was vaccinated. When she refused to answer — presumably because everyone in South Dakota zealously defends their gross misunderstanding of how HIPAA works — she was told to leave the courtroom.

That should have been the end of it. Well, the deputy truthfully saying, “yes, Your Honor, of course I’m vaccinated” should have been the end of it but that’s asking far too much. Instead, according to the judge:

The marshals, in turn, took three of the defendants scheduled for hearings that day out of the courthouse. That infuriated the judge, who describes that act as a “kidnapping” that obstructed the work of the court.

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One is easy enough to explain away. Two is a lot harder. Three? Good luck!

The whole thing started back in March when Judge Kornmann pushed the agency to alert the judiciary about vaccinations. That seems reasonable generally and incredibly reasonable when you’re talking about an octogenarian judge in a COVID hotspot. The agency rolled its eyes at the request, claiming it wasn’t tracking employee vaccinations — though the Post cites employees who claim the agency made them fill out vaccine paperwork.

For his part, Kilgallon had this to say:

Kilgallon also argued that any widespread court order that the deputies who provide security in federal courtrooms must be vaccinated “may negatively impact the ability of courts to conduct their business when such security is required.”

Who can forget the motto of the United States Marshals Service: “Quite the safe courthouse you got here… shame if someone decided not to protect it.”

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Federal judge accuses three senior law enforcement officials of criminal obstruction [Washington Post]


HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.