tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post6767563755897513119..comments2024-03-12T21:13:06.850-05:00Comments on Legal Schnauzer: Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas appeared poised to side with Siegelman in SCOTUS case that could have protected the right to trial by jurylegalschnauzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09619089628125964154noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-32149282737602206932022-06-28T06:26:50.272-05:002022-06-28T06:26:50.272-05:00Sounds like Seigelman was framed by republicans an...Sounds like Seigelman was framed by republicans and some Dems, perhaps jealous of the governor's success, threw gasoline on a fire created by Carl Rove, a well known sleaze bag from the George W. Bush camp.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-16064524508364101992016-01-14T15:34:40.495-06:002016-01-14T15:34:40.495-06:00Unfortunately, being sentenced for acquitted condu...Unfortunately, being sentenced for acquitted conduct is the law of the land. And as egregious as the Siegelman case may be, it is by no means unique.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11613791364684311081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-5820599923822230122016-01-13T11:42:17.145-06:002016-01-13T11:42:17.145-06:00I understand why Justice Kagan did not support hea...I understand why Justice Kagan did not support hearing the case. She was the Solicitor General in the Obama Administration when the case was being heard on the appeals level. She defended the District Court decision and sentence and recommended the appeal be denied as requested by the Justice Dept.<br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-63278492208235847022016-01-13T09:52:47.337-06:002016-01-13T09:52:47.337-06:00Here is a good 2015 article about the sentencing i...Here is a good 2015 article about the sentencing issue:<br /><br /><br />http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2015/10/22/former-attorney-generals-back-siegelman-supreme-court/74400058/<br /><br /><br />"More than 100 former state attorneys general are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the sentence of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, who remains behind bars for his conviction in a government corruption case.<br /><br />"The brief argued that former U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller, who oversaw Siegelman’s case, improperly factored charges that a jury did not convict Siegelman on in handing down the sentence. The brief argues the jury had to determine that, and that without it, the jury became “a mere pass-through to punishment by the state.”<br /><br />“It is one thing for a sentencing judge to make determinations about facts that a jury did not consider at all, such as the defendant’s lack of remorse, but it is another thing entirely to allow judges to find that conduct occurred by a preponderance of the evidence when the jury expressly acquitted the defendant of criminal charges based on that very conduct,” the brief states."legalschnauzerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09619089628125964154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-86456604367908954472016-01-13T09:50:20.802-06:002016-01-13T09:50:20.802-06:00You raise a good question, @5:58. Here is URL to a...You raise a good question, @5:58. Here is URL to a 2007 Harper's article, by Columbia U law prof Scott Harper, that helps explain, followed by key portion from the story:<br /><br /><br />http://harpers.org/blog/2007/06/siegelman-sentenced-riley-rushes-to-washington/<br /><br /><br />"And the Birmingham News notes that Fuller resolved to lengthen Siegelman’s sentence on the basis of charges brought against him of which he was acquitted. As the condemned man in Kafka’s “Penal Colony” reminds us: we are all guilty in the eyes of the judge; innocence is an illusion.<br /><br />"Fuller decided that charges on which Siegelman was acquitted at trial could be used in considering his sentence. Prosecutors had argued that, even though a jury did not find him guilty, there still was evidence of some wrongdoing."legalschnauzerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09619089628125964154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-61165103462302291722016-01-12T22:02:46.648-06:002016-01-12T22:02:46.648-06:00One really does wonder why the democrats so dislik...One really does wonder why the democrats so dislike a former Democratic Govenor. This whole case is very strange indead. The back story on this one, must be amazing.e.a.f.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-82877283853151391762016-01-12T18:19:32.343-06:002016-01-12T18:19:32.343-06:00I think the saying is due for an update... Karl Ro...I think the saying is due for an update... Karl Rove is the root of all evil!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-79222369762788642982016-01-12T17:58:12.764-06:002016-01-12T17:58:12.764-06:00I am unfamiliar with the case, so please excuse th...I am unfamiliar with the case, so please excuse this question, but how do we know the judge used crimes Siegleman was acquitted of to increase his sentence? In the drug case you have an obvious disparity between what everybody else had received as punishment. I doubt you would have had any dissenters had the sentence only been twice as high as others. Did Fuller make a comment that he was sentencing higher because of the other charges, are there enough people convicted under similar circumstances to say there is an average sentence or are we making assumptions about the sentencing? I would like to point out that the final decision was consistent with the other case, which would explain why it didn't make it through. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-62017029696610646222016-01-12T17:24:31.947-06:002016-01-12T17:24:31.947-06:00I think the Bush Admin (Karl Rove?) got some dirt ...I think the Bush Admin (Karl Rove?) got some dirt on Obama before leaving office. That's why the pres. doesn't want to touch the Siegelman case. That's why the pres. wanted to "look forward, not backward" on Bush criminals.<br /><br />Nobody plays blackmail better than Karl Rove.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-46589121210865809252016-01-12T16:40:34.346-06:002016-01-12T16:40:34.346-06:00C'mon, @12:26, you can't expect al.com to ...C'mon, @12:26, you can't expect al.com to do any real reporting on threats to our constitutional rights. Bama had a big game last night.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-88107867477650922642016-01-12T15:44:32.595-06:002016-01-12T15:44:32.595-06:00I wonder why certain Democrats (yes, we are talkin...I wonder why certain Democrats (yes, we are talking about you, Barack) seem reluctant to take steps to fix the Siegelman travesty. They seem to be in the White House, on the Supreme Court, in the Chicago mayor's office. Can't figure it out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-12545790792906296552016-01-12T15:32:47.915-06:002016-01-12T15:32:47.915-06:00It shouldn't be hard to resolve this issue. Co...It shouldn't be hard to resolve this issue. Common sense tells you that no one should be sentenced for "criminal" conduct a jury found they did not commit. How hard is it to fix this, and why has it been allowed to stay this way for years?Saddle Upnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-13466531695304423772016-01-12T13:53:06.542-06:002016-01-12T13:53:06.542-06:00Mark Fuller is a disgrace.Mark Fuller is a disgrace.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-42790621480077065062016-01-12T12:32:12.681-06:002016-01-12T12:32:12.681-06:00Scalia and Thomas see the problem, but justices ap...Scalia and Thomas see the problem, but justices appointed by Clinton and Obama can't see it--or they don't care? What's the point of voting for a Dem for president if their SCOTUS appointees are going to sit on their butts?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3669412675139526125.post-39257704731724069102016-01-12T12:26:02.703-06:002016-01-12T12:26:02.703-06:00Thanks for your reporting on this. The al.com stor...Thanks for your reporting on this. The al.com story said nothing about what the appeal was about. They seem to enjoy keeping the public ignorant.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com