For Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, the meddling of U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams was one step too far when she ruled to override a new Florida law:

An activist judge has ordered Florida to stop the enforcement of their recent law allowing misdemeanor charges for illegal aliens who enter Florida to evade immigration authorities. This is the showdown; a judge’s order is about to be effectively defied by a major state official.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier will refuse a judge’s demand that his office order state law enforcement to halt enforcement of a state immigration law she ordered paused under her suspicion of its unconstitutionality.

Once again, we see a judge swerving out of her lane to reject not only Donald Trump’s agenda for immigration enforcement, but to stymie efforts by an attorney general who is arresting illegal migrants for misdemeanor charges as the migrants dodge immigration enforcement.

The judge is offended by the AG’s reaction to her ruling:

Her [Williams’s] remarks came after she previously had scolded lawyers for Uthmeier’s office after learning that Florida Highway Patrol officers had arrested more than a dozen people — including a U.S. citizen — despite her ordering them to stop on April 4 when she issued a 14-day temporary restraining order that blocked enforcement on the state’s immigration law.

The judge told lawyers for the attorney general on Tuesday to consult with Uthmeier about withdrawing his advice to police officers to ignore her order, but they said Uthmeier was not retreating from his position.

‘What I am offended by is someone suggesting you don’t have to follow my order, that it’s not legitimate,’ Williams said.

I’d describe the judge’s reaction as a bit on the arrogant side.

Meanwhile, AG Uthmeier notified the law enforcement agencies in Florida that they were not parties to the judge’s rulings and therefore could continue to enforce the law:

In a court filing leading up to Tuesday’s hearing, Uthmeier’s office argued that the immigrant groups’ lawsuit only applies to his office and state prosecutors in Florida, noting that ‘a court’s judgment binds only the parties to a suit.’

Lawyers for his office argued the judge’s ruling does not apply to ‘independent’ law enforcement agencies, such as the Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, county sheriffs’ offices and local police.

‘They are not parties,’ the attorney general’s office asserted, because they are not ‘in active concert or participation with’ his office and state prosecutors in Florida.

The judge has scheduled a special hearing for May 15, which may include finding Uthmeier in contempt of court.

Finally, the Attorney General explained why he rejects the judge’s ruling:

‘I explained that I believed her after-the-fact expansion of her order to nonparties was wrong, and that my office would be arguing as much in short order. Today, my office filed a brief explaining why her order cannot possibly restrain Florida’s law enforcement agencies from enforcing Florida Statutes Sections 811.102 and 811.103. We will continue to argue that position—including on appeal as soon as possible,’ Uthmeier wrote in the memo, obtained by Fox News Digital.

Maybe if more attorneys general pushed back against these rogue judges, more of these judges might understand that they are making rulings far beyond their authority.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license.