Judicial Review · Constitutional Law · Civil Rights·February 19, 2026
Minnesota judge fines Trump DOJ attorney $500 daily in first contempt sanction
U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino held DOJ attorney Matthew Isihara in civil contempt on February 19, 2026 — the first court-ordered sanction against a Trump administration official in his second term — after ICE released a detainee in Texas instead of Minnesota and withheld his identification documents in defiance of three parts of her order
Judge Provinzino found ICE violated her court order three ways: releasing detainee in Texas, withholding ID documents, and failing to follow specific order terms
Matthew Isihara became the first federal government attorney held in civil contempt in Trump's second term, on February 19, 2026
The $500/day fine was waived after the government returned the documents the next day, but the contempt finding remained on the record
Chief Judge Schiltz — a conservative Bush appointee — identified 96 ICE violations in 74 cases during January 2026 alone in the Minnesota district
Operation Metro Surge produced more than 4,000 arrests in Minnesota, creating an administrative backlog DOJ attorneys cited as the cause of violations
Related Topics
2
Federal judge orders ICE director to court for contempt hearing as "patience runs out"
Judge says ICE violated dozens of court orders requiring bond hearings
ICE violated 56 court orders through mid-February, defying judges
Judges call ICE noncompliance lawless as one man was deported to Peru despite injunction
19 questions
Start the review