ex-khobar Andy wrote: ↑Thu Jan 08, 2026 1:57 pm
Thanks BSG. So in essence, whatever MN does, the US Attorney can make it a federal crime and then drop the case or, as you say, mount a half assed prosecution, and MN can do nothing about it.
Madison, Hamilton et al must be turning in their graves.
States and the federal government have dual sovereignty, so murders that invoke federal jurisdiction can usually be prosecuted in both state and federal court - an example would be some of the mass shootings we have seen where defendants have been prosecuted at both the state and federal level on the same acts. It’s the federal agent issue that makes this different.
I admit that this area of the law is not within my expertise, so I am anxious to hear analysis from any federal practitioners in the forthcoming days.
But it has occurred to me that since there is no statute of limitations for murder, if Minnesota waits until after January 21, 2029 to file charges against this agent, that might preserve the rights of the people of Minnesota to pursue justice for this unlawful act.
However, I don’t know if with the supremacy clause being at issue a preemptive presidential pardon would protect against that.
As I understand it the US Attorney has discretion about invoking the supremacy clause, it’s not an automatic process - obviously this corrupt DOJ leadership would presumably do so, but a future DOJ leadership might not. Some US Attorneys might prefer to allow the state to seek justice, because that could lead to greater public confidence in the legitimacy of the process and the accountability of law enforcement.
Whilst I know that Sue and RR aren’t criminal practitioners, I wonder what their thoughts are on this issue.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan