Update on the January 6th prosecutions
From lawyer “shipwreckedcrew” at RedState:
…[E]ven in the few cases where the government has substantial evidence — and I predict this is going to be a very small fraction of the number of cases filed — the nature of the charges that can be sustained on the evidence DOJ has will leave a public anticipating long prison sentences based on “insurrection” or “incitement” terribly disappointed in the likely outcomes…
Among the most commonly charged offense
1. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1752(a)(1) — Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building.
For lack of a better description, this is a federal “trespassing” statute. It is a misdemeanor punishable by up to only one year in prison unless the person used or carried a dangerous or deadly weapon. Because it is a misdemeanor, the Sentencing Guidelines do not apply, so a federal judge at sentencing can choose any term of days or months from 0 to 365. I expect most sentences will be “time served” for anyone held in pretrial detention, followed by a one-year term of supervised release — a form of federal probation.
The bigger problem with this statute is that, by its own terms, it only applies to “posted, cordoned off, or otherwise restricted area of the White House or its grounds, or the Vice President’s official residence or its grounds; or of a building or grounds where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting.”
This is not a “trespassing” statute that applies to all federal buildings generally — only buildings or grounds secured by the Secret Service. The Capitol on January 6 qualified as such, but ONLY during the period up to the departure from the Capitol of the Vice President. So there is a timing issue…
And then there’s the charges of “cisorderly or disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building,” which is a similar sort of misdemeanor with similar penalties. Shipwreckedcrew discusses whether one of the elements – “disrupting the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions” – was actually present, because it can be argued that Congress was only performing a ceremonial function that day.
I happen to think it wasn’t just ceremonial, but that’s not really the point. The point is that the vast majority of the charges are of this minor nature. However, as we’ve learned time and again, if people wish to find someone guilty of a more severe crime and they have the power to do so, it will happen.
But the “insurrection” narrative has served its purpose, and then some. It has been wildly successful as propaganda, and it will continue to be milked for all it’s worth in order to paint the right as composed of millions upon millions of violent terrorists, from which everyone else must be protected at all costs.
And Julie Kelly, who’s been reporting on this from the start, lets us know how the January 6th political prisoners are doing. The conditions under which they’re being held makes for very disturbing reading indeed.
“cisorderly conduct”
Although I think this
typoneologism has some real potential in today’s gender and sexuality discussions, it doesn’t quite fit here. 😉Again, this is being done with the connivance of Amy Berman Jackson and other DC judges.
Where is the outrage for citizens being held for more 100 days without being charged. I can’t believe the Federal courts can’t try their cases.
I listen to WMAL and the morning show is always talking about the corrupt and dishonest media. They are going to have to start talking about the corrupt and dishonest legal system. The Watergate defendants claimed you could not get a fair trial in Washington DC. Nothing has changed.
The intent is to intimidate both those who attended and everyone who voted for Trump. Instead, its forcing upon patriots the conclusion that those pushing the left’s agenda are not just fanatics but also evil.
How quickly we’ve become a left wing dictatorship like Nicaragua and Venezuela.
A fraudulent election, political prisoners languishing in prison on trumped up charges, government approved “collectivos” (ANTIFA & BLM) roaming the streets brutalizing and committing mayhem with no accountability. Seems pretty familiar.
The jail conditions are unacceptable. This is political punishment. Leftists who rioted in DC, including violent acts, are out on bail or have charges dismissed quickly.
The day will come when AntiFa types will dream of a nice comfy jail cell to shelter in. I wonder does anybody still read Saroyan?
“Where is the outrage for citizens being held for more 100 days without being charged. I can’t believe the Federal courts can’t try their cases.”
The Process is the Punishment.
Time may fear the Pyramids. But at our human scale, Leviathan’s indifference to Time is something the individual is wise to fear.
““Where is the outrage for citizens being held for more 100 days without being charged.” JFM
The outrage is building. Think volcanic eruptions. Until they explode up through the surface its easy to imagine that nothing will happen. So too with political upheavals. Those who study earthquakes tell us that small earthquakes are beneficial, in that they release pressure, rather than having it build up to catastrophic levels.
The left, in its ideological fanaticism is preventing the redress of legitimate grievances. That is ratcheting up society’s internal pressures. Some are blind to the predictable consequences, imagining we’ll go quietly into the night. Others like Pelosi and Schumer are attempting to create a fait accompli relying on patriots accepting that the Constitution is a suicide pact.
Their instinct to double down on compulsion indicates that they’re literally unable to comprehend the whirlwind that they’re fomenting.
Has Habeus Corpus been suspended or something? So do these prisoners not have attorneys, or possibly have ones who studied law in Iran?
Has Habeus Corpus been suspended or something? So do these prisoners not have attorneys, or possibly have ones who studied law in Iran?
What this is telling you is that Democrats are unfit for the bench. Amy Berman Jackson is one of the judges getting this caseload.
Still doesn’t apply, the “rioters” were let in by police.