A Massachusetts judge who previously faced felony charges for allegedly helping an illegal migrant escape apprehension from federal immigration authorities is once again facing a reprimand for the incident.
Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph engaged in “willful judicial misconduct” and committed actions that were “unbecoming” of a judicial officer, according to formal charges filed Monday by the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct. The charges, which have been lodged with the state Supreme Judicial Court, relate to a 2018 court case in which Joseph allegedly allowed an illegal migrant in her courtroom to flee through a back door to avoid a deportation officer waiting outside.
“The Commission charges that Judge Joseph has engaged in willful judicial misconduct that brought the judicial office into disrepute, as well as conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice and unbecoming a judicial officer,” according to a portion of the report by the Commission on Judicial Conduct.
The charges mark the latest development in what has become a years-long court slog for Joseph, with the case also highlighting the legal limitations for any local officials who wish to buck federal immigration enforcement cooperation.
The incident occurred on April 2, 2018 when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer arrived at the Newton District Court — where Joseph served on the bench — to apprehend Jose Medina-Perez, an illegal migrant from the Dominican Republic who had previously been deported on two different occasions and was barred from re-entering the U.S. for 20 years.
Local authorities had arrested Medina-Perez in Newton, Mass. on narcotics charges and linked him to a warrant for DUI in Pennsylvania, which explained why he was at the Newton District Court on that day. As is typical for many immigration courthouse apprehensions, the ICE officer was waiting for him to be bailed out so he could then be apprehended.
However, instead of letting Medina-Perez out through the courtroom lobby, the judge allegedly instructed him to be released through the rear exit, which leads to a parking lot. The alleged scheme took place after Joseph had asked the clerk to turn off the court recorder during a sidebar conversation with Medina-Perez’s defense attorney and the assistant district attorney.
This order to leave through the rear exit was never relayed over to the ICE officer, who waited in the lobby for hours and ultimately left without apprehending Medina-Perez.
“I heard about it the same day it happened,” Thomas Homan, the acting director of ICE at the time, said about the situation. “I was dumbfounded.”
“I said, ‘Well, now, things are going a bit too far.’ For an officer of the court to help someone escape ICE arrest. I’ve done this 35 years and never seen anything like that,” said Homan, who is now slated to serve as border czar under the new Trump administration.
Prosecutors charged Joseph in April 2019 with conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice for her actions.
Joseph maintained her innocence and fought the charges until federal prosecutors in September 2022 agreed to drop the case. In exchange for dropping the charges, she agreed to refer herself to the Commission on Judicial Conduct, which is tasked with investigating misconduct allegations by members of the bench.
The commission ultimately found her responsible for a litany of misconduct surrounding the 2018 incident and for subsequent actions, including a failure “to cooperate and be candid and honest with judicial disciplinary authorities.”
