But earlier this month, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued Abbott to force Castro’s extradition, arguing that Abbott was violating his responsibility to issue a rendition warrant for Castro under interstate extradition laws amid a Texas review of whether Castro qualifies as a fugitive. Ellison, in an August filing, also expressed concern that Castro could flee the country if let go from jail.
Texas law dictates that Castro must be released after 90 days, which is Thursday, unless extradited elsewhere.
Rodriguez, however, ruled that, although Abbott “has considered this particular extradition request for an atypically long duration,” Minnesota had not demonstrated any actual requirement for Texas to extradite Castro within a specific time period.
Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, said in a statement Wednesday that the order protects Texas’ constitutional duty to carefully consider extradition requests and “rebuffs Minnesota’s efforts to conscript federal courts into commandeering the authority of Governor Abbott’s office.”
But Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz argued the request fell within the norms of the states’ relationship, saying in a statement that “Texas has previously fulfilled every extradition — as has Minnesota — and this case should be no different.”
Ellison, in a statement, said the state would “continue litigating this case” but didn’t specify exactly how it would do so, adding that Abbot is “turning Texas into a sanctuary state for violent criminals.”
Ellison had previously told reporters that the state had made repeated attempts to compel Abbott to greenlight the extradition but that they were repeatedly ignored.
