BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — An Indiana University law professor told I-Team 8 that Attorney General Todd Rokita is in the wrong over his attack on Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté.

News 8 first reported on the men’s interaction on Friday.

It’s over Marté’s release of Manuel Lopez Lopez, who is in the country illegally, back in February. Since his release, Lopez Lopez was accused of trying to rape a woman in Bloomington.

IU Maurer School of Law professor Valena Beety said Marté was correct when they released Lopez Lopez because, if they had held him for any longer, it would have opened up the county to a lawsuit. “When a judge orders someone to be released, we don’t want police to have the authority to continue to detain us and to restrict and take our liberty.”

Beety has analyzed the case and said it’s a Fourth Amendment issue, which still applies to people in the country illegally. “The Fourth Amendment applies to all people who are in the United States.”

Rokita, a Republican, had posted to social media, “When @ICEgov says a detainer is on the way, delivers it to your department within minutes, and you still choose to release a criminal alien into the community – you are not cooperating with ICE.”

ICE refers to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Rokita posted it with a picture of the detainer. It’s dated Feb. 19, 2025, the same day Lopez Lopez accepted a plea deal and a judge ordered him to be released.

At the bottom, the detainer says to notify the Department of Homeland Security as early as practicable before releasing him from custody.

Marté, a Democrat, said he did just that.

Beety said, “I’m surprised that the sheriff is getting so much push back on what he was legally required to do. The sheriff was complying with the ICE request. Gave ICE notice about this individual and his release and his release date and time.”

I-Team 8 emailed ICE to ask why they didn’t take custody of Lopez Lopez before he was released. ICE did not respond before this story.

On July 2, Lopez Lopez was accused of trying to rape a woman on the B-Line trail in Bloomington.

On social media, Rokita argued that alleged crime would never of happened if Marté would have just held him in custody.

To professor Beety, that sort of thinking is a slippery slope: “We have to keep coming back to the fundamental rule of law, that we have a Constitution and we uphold the Constitution for everyone because (if) we start making exceptions, that can harm you, that can harm me. That diminishes our rights.”

Lopez Lopez on Monday remained at the Monroe County jail as he faces the charge of rape.manuel

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