Defense attorneys have coined the term “January 6 Jurisprudence” to describe the treatment received by the more than 1,200 defendants arrested so far in connection with the events of Jan. 6, 2021. This carve-out legal system involves the unprecedented and possibly unlawful use of a corporate evidence-tampering statute; excessive prison sentences and indefinite periods of pretrial incarceration; and the designation of nonviolent offenses as federal crimes of terrorism.
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Commentary: The Pathetic and Political Sedition Case Against the Oath Keepers
Facing intensifying criticism from Democratic lawmakers, journalists, and even some federal judges for not seeking harsher punishment against January 6 protesters, Attorney General Merrick Garland finally produced charges to appease his detractors. Last week, more than a year after the so-called insurrection, Garland charged 11 members of the Oath Keepers with seditious conspiracy.
The star of the new indictment, handed down by a grand jury on January 12, is Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the alleged militia group. (His co-defendants were charged with several other offenses months ago.)
Rhodes, described only as “person one” for nearly a year in numerous criminal indictments related to his organization, has been a free man since January 6, 2021, raising plausible suspicions that he may have been a government informant at the time. After all, the FBI has a longstanding pattern of infiltrating fringe groups such as the Oath Keepers and moving them to commit indictable crimes.
Read the full storyCommentary: Officer Fanone’s Bodycam Video of Capitol 6 Riot Still Not Released
At least one federal judge handling several Capitol protest criminal cases is paying attention to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s show trial about the events of January 6.
Judge Thomas Hogan, 83, who has served on the D.C. District Court for nearly 40 years, referred to public testimony given last week by four law enforcement officers while he scolded a husband and wife over their involvement in the protest.
“[H]e begins by talking about the violence, and makes clear he listened to the police officers who testified before Congress last week about their experience, and notes the recent suicide of [a Metropolitan Police Department] officer,” Zoe Tillman, a reporter for BuzzFeed, live-tweeted during the couple’s sentencing hearing on Wednesday.
Read the full storyTrump Has Appointed Second-Most Federal Judges Through November 1 of a President’s Fourth Year
President Donald Trump has appointed and the Senate has confirmed 220 Article III federal judges through Nov. 1, 2020, his fourth year in office. This is the second-most Article III judicial appointments through this point in all presidencies since Jimmy Carter (D). The Senate had confirmed 260 of Carter’s appointees at this point in his term.
The average number of federal judges appointed by a president through Nov. 1 of their fourth year in office is 200.
Read the full storyConservatives Launch Campaign to Bolster Trump’s Judges, Pressure Democrats
Conservative groups announced a campaign Monday designed to pressure Senate Democrats to sign off on President Trump’s judicial nominees, saying this White House deserves a chance to fill the record number of vacancies remaining across the federal courts. The Judicial Crisis Network said it will spend $500,000 on digital ads, and they and at least four…
Read the full storyTrump, Keeping Campaign Promise, Picks More Conservative Judges
President Donald Trump submitted a new slate of judicial nominees to the Senate Wednesday, naming nine appointees to federal courts across the country. The list is the second such slate that the president has submitted to the Senate. The White House also indicated that Trump will officially nominate three more judicial candidates in the coming days.…
Read the full storyTrump Agenda Achilles Heel: 129 Judicial Vacancies
President Donald Trump watched as a federal judge in Hawaii , just weeks before another judge in California to punish “sanctuary” cities and counties. Both judges have something in common — they got their jobs by way of appointment by former President Barack Obama. The former president also appointed one of the appeals court judges in…
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