On September 24, the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices began meeting for their annual conference to decide which handful of cases to pluck from the stack of approximately 10,000 petitions seeking review. The court hears about 75 to 80 cases each year, which means it rejects more than 98 percent of its applicants. Among those seeking to beat the odds is U.S. v. Rubashkin, and for many reasons, it stands out. Most importantly, Sholom Rubashkin’s case gives the justices the opportunity to set clear boundaries when it comes to the relationship between judges and prosecutors in criminal cases.
In almost every respect, the Rubashkin case is extraordinary. It began in October 2007, when the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out what was, at that time, the largest workplace raid in U.S. history. Hundreds of federal agents descended on Agriprocessors, a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, which was managed by Rubashkin. Nearly 400 undocumented workers were arrested. Over a four-day period, 297 pleaded guilty to immigration violations, shackled and in groups of 10, in judicial proceedings organized and presided over by Linda Reade, the chief judge of the Northern District of Iowa. Many went to prison on charges that would usually garner probation.
