Ian Millhiser

So there is a federal law.

It's called the Federal Tort Claims Act.

And I'm going to just read off a list of illegal things that this covers.

OK.

So this law sometimes permits lawsuits against federal law enforcement officers who engage in, and here's the list, assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, malicious prosecution, abusive process, libel, slander, misrepresentation, deceit, and interference with contract rights.

So if a ICE officer has assaulted you, battered you, falsely imprisoned you, falsely arrested you, maliciously prosecuted you, abused process, libeled you, slandered you, misengaged in misrepresentation, deceit or interference with your contract rights, you can potentially sue under the Federal Tort Claims Act the United States government.

Ah, the whole country.

Exactly.

And if you win, then you'll get money.

You'll get money paid out of the United States Treasury.

The bad news is that that money is going to come from the United States Treasury, like the taxpayer.

And so, like, if I'm a rogue ICE officer or for that matter, if I'm a rogue president who is ordering these ICE officers to violate the law, what do I care if the United States Treasury has to pay out some money?

Like, you know, it gives people some compensation after the fact.

And that's not nothing.

But I doubt that this is going to be effective in deterring bad actions by bad law enforcement officers or by bad political officials because they aren't on the hook for the money.

The taxpayers are on the hook.

Yeah.

So both of the remaining options fall under the same umbrella, and that is criminal prosecutions.

So, I mean, there are some federal laws which govern how law enforcement officers are supposed to behave.

And conceivably, if an officer violates one of those laws, they can be charged with a crime.