ACLU Ready to Fight Trump Policies in Court

Posted onNovember 9, 2016Authorjeralyn

The ACLU says Donald Trump is a one-man constitutional crisis and it’s ready to fight him in court.

In the event of a Trump presidency, we have undertaken a constitutional analysis of his most controversial policy proposals. These include his pledges to deport over 11 million undocumented immigrants, to ban Muslims from entering the United States, to surveil American Muslims and their houses of worship, to torture again, and to revise libel laws. We have found them all wanting, to say the least. According to our analysis, Trump’s proposals taken together would violate the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution.

ACLU lawyers have prepared this legal analysis of his positions. Read More

Mexico Touts Arrests of El Chapo’s Tunnel Team

Posted onOctober 24, 2015October 24, 2015Authorjeralyn

Mexico’s Attorney General this week announced the arrest of six people (and a few more with arrest warrants who are not yet caught) who helped Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman escape from Altiplano prison in July. She didn’t name them but their names are available on Mexican news sites. (More here and here.)

Several were arrested in July and August — in other words, not all are new arrests, just newly disclosed arrests. So who are they? See below: Read More

How to Get a Gold Star From the DEA

Posted onJanuary 27, 2015January 28, 2015Authorjeralyn

Bump and Update: The Flores Twins have each been sentenced to 14 years. The Judge said had they not continued to deal drugs while cooperating, they would have gotten 12 years.

The infamous Flores twins of Chicago will finally be sentenced Tuesday. Some background on twin brothers Pedro and Margarito Flores, is in this Chicago Reader article. The Government filed its sentencing memorandum a few weeks ago, which I have uploaded here. Their sentencing guidelines (level 47, Category I) call for a sentence of life in prison (there is no parole in the federal system and good time doesn't apply to a life sentence.)

Due to the Flores Twins' “extraordinary cooperation”, which the Government maintains resulted in more than 50 people being charged (list here), most of whom are their workers and customers, the Government is asking for a sentence at the low end of a reduced range of 10 to 16 years. The Government writes:

Absent their cooperation, the government would argue life imprisonment is the appropriate sentence for these defendants. However, they are not being sentenced absent cooperation.

How big were the Flores twins? Read More

San Diego : Newly Unsealed Sinaloa Charges Aren’t Very New

Posted onJanuary 19, 2015January 20, 2015Authorjeralyn1 Comment

Amidst much fanfare and back-patting at a press conference Friday, the U.S. Attorney in San Diego Friday announced recently unsealed drug and money laundering indictments of various leaders and members of the Sinaloa cartel. The Government’s press release is here, and the list of charged defendants is here.

“Recently unsealed” does not mean “new.” Read More

Tsarnaev Defense Appeals Denial of Venue Change

Posted onJanuary 1, 2015January 19, 2015Authorjeralyn

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, accused of the Boston Marathon bombings. Yesterday, hours after the trial court refused its most recent request for a continuance, the defense filed a petition for writ of mandamus with the First Circuit Court of Appeals requesting a change of venue, or in the alternative, an order compelling the trial judge to hold an evidentiary hearing on its change of venue motion. You can read it here. It also filed a motion in the trial court requesting that jury selection be delayed until the appeals court has ruled.

The petition makes several references to the ruling of Judge Matsch in the OKC bombing case of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols (available here.) Judge Matsch rejected the Government’s arguments that a fair trial could be held outside of OKC, but still in Oklahoma. He ruled a fair trial was not possible anywhere in the state of Oklahoma, and moved the trial to Denver. Read More

Tuesday Open Thread

Posted onDecember 30, 2014December 30, 2014Authorjeralyn12 Comments

Here’s an open thread. All topics welcome.

It is really cold here:

Forecasters say temperatures in Denver will top out at 4 degrees on Tuesday before dropping to as low as minus 9 at night with a wind chill of minus 15. A 70 percent chance of snow remains until this evening through which about an inch is expected to fall.

The keyless entry system in my Jeep went haywire yesterday. As I was pulling it into my garage it flashed a message saying there was no key activated and the engine shut down. (At least I had finished parking it.) I can start the engine with the key fob but I keep getting that message. Jeep says I have to take it in. Not what I want to do when it’s 4 degrees out, the roads are slick ice and the jeep dealer is 15 miles away. What if the engine shuts down on the way to the dealer?

I think I’ll just stay home, test my new Spanish learning program, play with WordPress some more and maybe get some work done.

ISIS Releases Issue 6 of Dabiq Magazine

Posted onDecember 30, 2014December 31, 2014Authorjeralyn

ISIS has released issue No. 6 of Dabiq Magazine. You can read it here. Shorter version:

The Muslims will continue to defy the kāfir war machine, flanking the crusaders on their own streets and bringing the war back to their own soil.

I don't think it's as interesting as prior issues, despite the graphic photo of the captured Jordanian pilot wearing an orange jumpsuit. Read More

ISIS and the Jordanian Pilot Hostage

Posted onDecember 25, 2014December 27, 2014Authorjeralyn

The father of 1st Lt. Mu’ath al-Kaseasbeh, the Jordanian pilot captured by ISIS has issued a plea for his return.

“I direct a message to our generous brothers of the Islamic State in Syria: to host my son, the pilot Mu’ath, with generous hospitality,” he said. “I ask God that their hearts are gathered together with love, and that he is returned to his family, wife and mother.”

“We are all Muslims,” he added.

Here are very large-size (non-violent) photos of his capture.

What are the chances the pilot will not be killed? Read More

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