The Menendez obstructionPOWERLINE by Scott Johnson 1/17/2026
On December 17 six named plaintiffs filed a purported class action lawsuit in federal court here seeking declaratory and injuncitve relief against Kristi Noem et al. The case is styled Tincher v. Noem. The complaint in the lawsuit is accessible here. It alleges a variety of illegal misconduct by ICE officers against the named plaintiffs.
The lawsuit is a project of the Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (MCLU). MCLU has retained prominent counsel including lawyers from Ciresi Conlin, Forsgren Fisher McCalmont DeMarea Tysver, and Riach Law to represent plaintiffs. Department of Justice attorneys Jeremy Newman and Kathleen Jacobs represent the named defendants (i.e., the government). The case was assigned to Judge Kate Menendez.
I reported on the initial hearing held in the lawsuit earlier this week in “Who came first.” In that post I observed that the hearing did not go well for the government and that Judge Menendez intended to issue an order by the end of the week.
Thus it has come to pass. Judge Menendez has granted preliminary injunctive relief on a class-wide basis (without the inconvenience of a hearing or order on class certification). I have embedded the 82-page order via Scribd at the bottom. The New York Times reports on the order in Mitch Smith’s story “Judge Restricts Immigration Agents’ Actions Toward Minnesota Protesters.” The AP reports on it in Audrey McAvoy and Steve Karnowski’s accessible AP story “Judge rules feds in Minneapolis immigration operation can’t detain or tear gas peaceful protesters.”
On its face, the order may appear reasonable, but it is unreal. I think it reflects the judge’s intense desire to insert herself in an obstructive manner into the ongoing battle between federal law enforcement and the organized resistance to it in the Twin Cities. Not too put too fine a point on it, from the perspective of law enforcement — from the perspective of the covered officers confronting the unlawful misconduct with which they are dealing on a daily basis — it must be a giant pain in the ass.
On the issue of class-wide relief, Judge Menendez writes (at page 73):
Plaintiffs have asserted the claims here on behalf of not only themselvesindividually, but on behalf of a class of similarly situated individuals defined as: “All persons who do or will in the future record, observe, and/or protest against the DHSimmigration operations that have been ongoing in this District since December 4, 2025.” While Plaintiffs have not moved for class certification, nor has the Court granted it, Plaintiffs seek immediate interim relief on a class-wide basis. The Court concludes that limited class-wide relief is appropriate at this stage…
More:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/01/the-menendez-obstruction.php
