The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in a stunning but not surprising decision has brought the Commonwealth a step closer to sanctuary state status.

The SJC on Monday ruled that current Massachusetts law

"provides no authority for Massachusetts court officers to arrest and hold an individual solely on the basis of a federal civil immigration detainer, beyond the time that the individual would otherwise be entitled to be released from state custody."

The State House News Agency says the ruling concerns the case of Sreynuon Lunn who was born to Cambodian parents in a Thai refugee camp and entered the United States as a seven month old in 1985.  Lunn was ordered deported for crimes committed in the U.S. in the 2000s.  He was arrested last Fall on charges he robbed money from a homeless Boston man but the charges were dismissed.  Lunn was held by the Boston Municipal Court to be picked up for deportation by ICE.

The state's high court says Lunn was wrongly "held against his will" in a detention cell.  The ruling states;

"He was otherwise entitled to be free, as no criminal charges were then pending against him and there was no other basis under Massachusetts law to hold him.  The sole basis for holding him was the civil immigration detainer."

Let me recap incase you missed something.  Lunn committed a series of crimes in the 2000s for which he was ordered deported.  He did not leave the country and late last year was charged with rolling a homeless guy in Boston.  The charges were dropped because the homeless guy didn't show up for the trial.  And the SJC says the Boston court system was wrong to hold Lunn for ICE so that the deportation order could be carried out?.  The SJC says Lunn's rights were violated.  Am I missing something here?

The SJC's decision focuses on court officers but the ACLU and others say it pertains to all law enforcement.   Liberal moonbat Attorney General Maura Healey agrees and praised the high court's decision;

"Today's decision is a victory for the rule of law and smart immigration and criminal justice policies, and a rejection of anti-immigrant policies that have stoked fear in communities across the country.  As my office argued in this case, Massachusetts law protects our residents from illegal detention and prevents the federal government form forcing local law enforcement to make decisions contrary to the public safety interests of their communities."

Democrat sponsored legislation is pending that would strengthen the ruling handed down by the advocates on the SJC.  The State House News Agency says the legislation would give due process rights to detained immigrants and prohibit "collaboration agreements between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement agencies that deputize state and local officers as immigration agents," as the Sheriffs of Bristol and Plymouth Counties have attempted to do.

Several Republican lawmakers, including Taunton's Shuanna O'Connell are working with Bristol County Sherriff Tom Hodgson to draft legislation to reverse the effects of the Supreme Judicial Court's ruling.

Making it easy for criminal illegal aliens to remain and thrive in Massachusetts by blocking the efforts of local authorities to work with federal immigration officials is wrong and dangerous.

The people of Massachusetts have made it clear in poll after poll that they do not support sanctuary state status for the Commonwealth, yet politicians on Beacon Hill and on the bench continue to have it their own way.  We must demand more from our elected officials and insist that activists are not appointed to  the judiciary.

Providing sanctuary for criminal illegal aliens is abhorrent and a clear violation of federal law.

We must drain the Massachusetts swamp.

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 Editor’s Note: Barry Richard is the afternoon host on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from Noon-3pm. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

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