Scratch a leftist…
Lynn Moses will be locked up in federal prison next Wednesday. His crime? Protecting the city of Driggs, Idaho from flooding. [...]
Presiding federal judge Lynn Winmill, who has a well-deserved reputation for judicial activism, refused to allow Teton County commissioners to testify to the original agreement, nor would he allow the aggressive Corps staffer to testify about the refusal of the U.S. Attorney to prosecute in the mid-90s.
Before the jury was dismissed to enter into deliberations at the conclusion of his trial, Judge Lynn Winmill instructed the jury, believe it or not, to disregard every bit of information from 1980 to 2002, including the Corps’ denial of jurisdiction and the mandate from local government for Mr. Moses to maintain the flood channel.
Instructed by this notoriously activist judge to ignore facts, reason and legal history, the jury returned with a guilty verdict, finding Mr. Moses guilty of “discharging†“pollutants†into one of the “waters of the United States.â€Â
His conviction ignores the fact that no evidence was ever presented in court that Mr. Moses “discharged†anything into the stream bed at all. He only removed sand and gravel bars that were already there and which he was contractually obligated to remove. He was extracting material from the channel, not discharging material into it.
Read the whole thing and keep in mind that Judge B. Lynn Winmill is a 1995 Bill Clinton appointee.
Vote Democrat, ensure more Winmills on the court.
(h/t B Moe)
Comment by Dan Collins on 8/6 @ 8:42 am #
Oh, Darleen. Tilting at Winmills?
Comment by Dan Collins on 8/6 @ 8:51 am #
They also neglected to use “sending him down the river.” It’s awful in such an otherwise well-written piece of teh journalism.
Comment by thor on 8/6 @ 8:53 am #
But judges aren’t supposed to be political appointments. To vote Republican in hopes of a conservative judiciary is not keeping within the spirit of a non-partisan judiciary.
Just sayin’!
Comment by JD on 8/6 @ 8:56 am #
Sadly, there are people that view this as a good thing.
Comment by cybrludite on 8/6 @ 8:56 am #
How about voting Republican in hopes of having judges who follow the gods-damned laws as written? That ok with you?
Comment by thor on 8/6 @ 8:58 am #
The way the laws are written! = thor de-coder = the way I like the laws read!
Comment by Dread Cthulhu on 8/6 @ 9:05 am #
thor: “But judges aren’t supposed to be political appointments. To vote Republican in hopes of a conservative judiciary is not keeping within the spirit of a non-partisan judiciary”
Uh-huh… and there was nothing “political” about naming the ACLU house counsel to the Supreme Court?
Comment by Mikey NTH on 8/6 @ 9:14 am #
Whenever a political official nominates and other political officials confirm the nomination, then the nomination will have a political side to it.
If getting money out of politics is impossible, then how feasible is it to get politics out of politics?
Comment by sashal on 8/6 @ 9:19 am #
to vote republican after 8 years of Bush?
Somebody is just not serious about the fate of their own country…..
Comment by Dread Cthulhu on 8/6 @ 9:20 am #
Mikey NTH: “If getting money out of politics is impossible, then how feasible is it to get politics out of politics?”
The original envisionment of Congress did not involve national parties — the House would represent regional interests and the Senate would balance the regional and national interest.
1) Reduce Senate seats to political appointments to take the national politics out of the Senate.
2) Retract every law that is unconstitutional on its face, given the blanket admonition of the Tenth Amendment.
Comment by Dread Cthulhu on 8/6 @ 9:22 am #
sashal: “to vote republican after 8 years of Bush? Somebody is just not serious about the fate of their own country…..”
Uh-huh… and reinforcing a Pelosi majority in the House would be equal, if not greater, folly. The Democrat dominated Congress has an approval rating of about *half* that of Bush.
Comment by JD on 8/6 @ 9:23 am #
This ruling is disgusting. It should outrage anyone with a sense of justice or even common decency.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 8/6 @ 9:26 am #
This should merit a pardon.
Should. Probably won’t, more the pity.
Comment by SevenEleventy on 8/6 @ 9:49 am #
to vote republican after 8 years of Bush?
Somebody is just not serious about the fate of their own country…..
Voting in a Democratic majority in Congress was a serious mistake! Why make a bigger mistake by voting in a Democrat for president? Seriously!
Comment by Darleen on 8/6 @ 9:51 am #
to vote republican after 8 years of Bush?
sash, Bush ain’t running, that might have slipped by you.
So you would LIKE to have more judges like Winmill? More anti-capitalist lawsuits ala Jerry Brown? You would like to see Pelosi and Reid continue running Congress?
I’m saying a vote for ANY Democrat is a vote for that. Even a vote for O! is a vote for a new authoritarian order.
YOU want that?
Comment by Darleen on 8/6 @ 9:54 am #
DreadC #10
There was a time that US senators were appointed by their respective state legislatures.
Senate – all states equal vote
House – proportional representation based on population
Comment by SarahW on 8/6 @ 10:09 am #
I’m interested in the “more to the story”…I feel like I don’t have enough information, so I guess I’ll probe, but who benefits from this?
Did the government suddently want something (besides a wetland designation or somesuch) this man stood in the way of them getting? Did he stand in the way of a private contractor or developer?
Comment by Darleen on 8/6 @ 10:15 am #
SarahW
There could be more, but please do not underestimate the sheer obtuseness of some government employees in applying the “letter of the law” even if those letters are stretched out of shape of their original meaning. Someone saw “stream bed” and thought “waterways” …. and it was off to the races.
Comment by SarahW on 8/6 @ 10:15 am #
Well, here is the slant from the US Attorney in Idaho, anyway.
Comment by sashal on 8/6 @ 10:23 am #
-Darleen, in case you haven’t noticed, Bush is running. Just looks more wrinklier and greyer.
-The idiotic lawsuits were always here under all kinds of administrations.
-2010 will be another chance to vote on the dem congress (and in 2008 as well).
-I do not want another 4 years of the GOP executive, I am quite open for the more options of the 2012 ( hopefully republicans will grow enough brains to cleanse themselves off from the neocon filth)
Comment by Darleen on 8/6 @ 10:44 am #
Good lord, Sarah. Not one word of 22 years of him complying with government orders …
[insert colorful swear words here]
Comment by kelly on 8/6 @ 10:53 am #
( hopefully republicans will grow enough brains to cleanse themselves off from the neocon filth)
Were you ass-raped by neocons as a child or something? Fucking get over it.
Pingback by Michelle Malkin » Caution: Clinton appointee at work on 8/6 @ 11:01 am #
[...] never safe as long as Clinton appointees are on the bench. Posted in: Enviro-nitwits Send to a Friend Printer Friendly comments [...]
Comment by Dan Collins on 8/6 @ 11:03 am #
Malki-lanche!
Comment by Carin on 8/6 @ 11:10 am #
So, Thor is perfectly ok with the judicial ruling of Judge Winmill?
Comment by sashal on 8/6 @ 11:10 am #
actually, kelly , you were too(and that you guys do not notice this is one of the greatest ironies of all)
And thousands of people did not get over it, they are dead…
Comment by lee on 8/6 @ 11:12 am #
Every time Sashel comments, I think of a freeloader brother-in-law who needed a place to stay for a few days, and after sleeping in the basement for several years, now spends his time bitching about the way his hosts prioritize their lives, which ironically provides him with room and board.
Perhaps he should find a place with less contrast of life styles. France maybe.
Comment by kelly on 8/6 @ 11:18 am #
Yeah, whatever, sash. So you hate Jews. The line forms over there.
Comment by cybrludite on 8/6 @ 11:27 am #
Oh, mighty Thor, Clod of Blunder, let me just point out that given this gentleman was complying with the orders of federal officials, his being clapped in gaol is entrapment at the very least. Factor in the way the judge refused to allow testimony to that effect makes it even worse. Replace “maintaining the waterway” with “growing pot” and see if you’re not horrified at the judge’s actions as well. This is how judges at in dictatorships, not democratic republics.
Comment by cybrludite on 8/6 @ 11:29 am #
“act in dictatorships”, not “at in dictatorships”
Comment by BJTexs on 8/6 @ 11:31 am #
sashal:
Face it. You are the living, breathing definition of a one trick pony. You hardly ever show up on any the threads except for those where you can twist something into a screed against Bush and the evil neocons for their Iraq misadventure. The fact that, in order to remain “relevant” your language is getting more and more puerile in describing your transcendent loathing off all things Bushian.
Kelly’s comment was crude, but with a purpose. You are obsessed with it and are rapidly becoming boring and repetitive. If we engage in another discussion about anything to do with Iraq, you’ll trot out the same, tired, well worn arguments that have been debated ad nauseum in too many threads to count. Consider opening your mind (not changing it, mond you) to exploring other topics and other interests. Having been one of you most collegial debaters I’m now telling you that you are a bore and a serial rehasher.
We get your point, many of us have answered it, we agree to disagree and move on to other topics. If you choose not to do so then you will become a semanticleo with worse grammar.
Comment by TheGeezer on 8/6 @ 11:37 am #
Comment by C.W.Carman on 8/6 @ 3:59 pm #
Just remeber this one axiom; Not all traitors are democrats, but all democrats are traitors.
Comment by Biff on 8/6 @ 6:18 pm #
I call for a detainment on that judge. She did not carry out the law. She carried out her personal agenda.
Comment by Spiny Norman on 8/6 @ 7:02 pm #
The Geezer,
Without the slightest doubt.
Besides, there was no real “election” anyway, after the Chicago Machine had blackmailed his opponents.
Comment by Spiny Norman on 8/6 @ 7:05 pm #
On topic:
This poor soul, Lynn Moses, has more grounds for appeal than I could possibly imagine.
Unless, of course, Judge Windymill has ruled that no appeals will be allowed…
Comment by T-Robert on 8/7 @ 9:56 am #
Too bad jurors no longer know about “Jury Nullification.” Instead, by following a judges instructions, they give up their duty as jurors to the judge making the judge both judge and jury. When did Americans stop thinking for themselves?