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Law Blog Obituary: Arizona Federal Judge, John Roll, 63
Wall Street Journal / wsj.com ^ | JANUARY 9, 2011, 11:08 AM ET | By Ashby Jones

Posted on 01/10/2011 11:04:16 PM PST by thecodont

The tragic shooting in Tucson Saturday morning took the life of six people, among them John McCarthy Roll, the chief judge of the District of Arizona.

Judge Roll was 63. Click here for my and Nathan Koppel’s story on Roll in the WSJ; here for the NYT’s article; here for the LAT’s; here for the Arizona Republic’s.

Roll was known within the Tucson legal community as a conservative and even-handed jurist who, in recent years had worked hard to increase funding for an overstretched Arizona federal bench.

“He was a life-long Republican and I don’t think he would have objected to hearing anyone call him conservative,” said Ninth Circuit judge Michael Daly Hawkins, who had known Judge Roll for over 40 years. “But he was always fair-minded and absolutely attentive to everyone who appeared in his courtroom.”

Roll had attended the event Saturday in Tucson to thank Rep. Gabrielle Giffords for signing a letter to Judge Alex Kozinski, the chief judge of the Ninth Circuit, to help convince the court to declare his federal judicial district a judicial emergency due to the high number of immigration cases that were being heard in that district, according to Judge Hawkins. A judicial emergency would put certain new measures in place, such as allowing judges to delay a trial because there were not enough bodies to hear the cases.

Judge Roll was appointed to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, and had served as chief judge of the District of Arizona since 2006.

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: azshootings; giffords; johnroll
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Links to other stories on Judge John Roll's death:

Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704030704576070620524501318.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLETopStories

New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/09judge.html?_r=2&hp

Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0109-judge-roll-killed-20110109,0,4727633.story

Arizona Republic: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/01/09/20110109john-roll-gabrielle-giffords-arizona-shooting.html

1 posted on 01/10/2011 11:04:21 PM PST by thecodont
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To: thecodont

Do we have any confidence that Roll was not the target of this loon? Last time I recall an attack on a political event like this was the shooting of George Wallace also by a “loon”. But the shots were confined to Wallace not shooting up an entire crowd.

The “loon” who shot Wallace was also portrayed as mentally ill though he had followed both Wallace and Nixon around the country prior to the attack.

We cannot assume ANYTHING the media tries to tell us is true.


2 posted on 01/10/2011 11:13:25 PM PST by arrogantsob
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To: arrogantsob

That’s the key. If Giffords was the only target, he wouldn’t have started randomly pumping ammo into the crowd. He wanted attention, because leftist mommy and daddy “ignored” him as a child.


3 posted on 01/10/2011 11:24:23 PM PST by boop ("Let's just say they'll be satisfied with LESS"... Ming the Merciless)
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To: arrogantsob

unlikely, unless the shooter had some way of knowing Roll would be there. The stories I read indicate his attendance was a spur of the moment thing. None of Loughner’s writings that have been released so far mention the judge. Giffords seems to have been the target. The others had the misfortune of being there when this nut decided to go off.


4 posted on 01/11/2011 12:58:59 AM PST by balch3
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To: thecodont

““He was a life-long Republican and I don’t think he would have objected to hearing anyone call him conservative,”

Is the lamestream media blaming Palin for him, too?

I’ve heard next to nothing about him being DEAD but 24/7 about her being shot and surviving.

I’m very glad she did but what about *him*?

Where’s the liberal outrage over a DEAD Republican shot by a liberal loon?

[and why do I have a nauseating feeling that they’re really *happy* about it? didn’t he have like a gazillion death threats against him? what if she was just a diversion from the *real* target?]


5 posted on 01/11/2011 1:01:53 AM PST by Salamander (Cursed with Second Sight)
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To: balch3

“The stories I read indicate his attendance was a spur of the moment thing”

What if psycho-boy had been following him and just by dumb luck killed him *there* instead of somewhere else, that day?


6 posted on 01/11/2011 1:03:39 AM PST by Salamander (Cursed with Second Sight)
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To: Salamander; All

Re: “Where’s the liberal outrage over a DEAD Republican shot by a liberal loon?”

You got that right!

I, too, was wondering Why the lamebrain media didn’t say anything about the judge being killed. Now I understand - he was a Republican!

But How Many people actually Know that Giffords has a 100% NARAL Rating? She is avidly Pro-death.

I just pray that Giffords and her family will turn to prolife because of this life-threatening incident - but even though I believe in miracles - THAT would be a Huge one!

News About Her Record:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/abortion-lobby-pillories-conservatives-for-shooting-of-pro-abort-us-rep-g/


7 posted on 01/11/2011 1:46:18 AM PST by Anita1 ("Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.")
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To: Anita1

They have mentioned Judge Roll every single day. Where have you guys been?


8 posted on 01/11/2011 1:49:02 AM PST by rudabaga
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To: balch3

I have been wondering about Judge Roll a good bit. Who is he, what does his death mean to the political climate?

Also, from yahoo today:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20110110/ts_yblog_theticket/giffords-tragedy-could-be-a-defining-moment-for-palin

this article, and the link to the facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/sarah-palin/dont-get-demoralized-get-organized-take-back-the-20/373854973434

make me start thinking in terms of how much mileage could be anticipated in something like this, and whether one person rather than another could be foreseen to get more mileage.

I have wondered about the people listed as being in Palin’s sights (from facebook page): Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-1), Harry E. Mitchell (AZ-5), Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8), John Salazar (CO-3), Betsy Markey (CO-4). Allen Boyd (FL-2), Suzanne M. Kosmas (FL-24), Baron P. Hill (IN-9), Earl Pomeroy (ND-AL), Charlie Wilson (OH-6), John Boccieri (OH-16), Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3), Christopher Carney (PA-10), John M. Spratt, Jr. (SC-5), Tom Perriello (VA-5), Alan B. Mollohan (WV-1), and Nick J. Rahall II (WV-3).

If there were a conspiracy - why Giffords and not one of the others listed? Who is most expendable? I note that Giffords herself mentioned the flap (from the article):
“Giffords herself had previously raised concerns about Palin’s map: ‘The way that she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have got to realize there are consequences to that action.’ “ Which makes her being targeted a bonus for those who stand to gain the most.

But that would be too overboard, unless one considers the notion that not all conspirators are flesh and blood, I hope.


9 posted on 01/11/2011 2:31:57 AM PST by Apogee
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To: Salamander
“The stories I read indicate his attendance was a spur of the moment thing”

Apparently not the case after all. After further investigation it has been determined Judge Roll was present with the intention of further follow-up on his caseload emergency status issue.

Thus was his murder "while in the performance of his official duties," as described in the five count indictment issued by federal prosecutors.

10 posted on 01/11/2011 3:34:50 AM PST by Prospero (non est ad astra mollis e terris via)
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To: balch3
"unlikely, unless the shooter had some way of knowing Roll would be there. The stories I read indicate his attendance was a spur of the moment thing."

Look at the source. Was it Dupnik who said that it was a spur of the moment attendance? Is Dupnik a reliable source?

11 posted on 01/11/2011 4:05:05 AM PST by 1_Rain_Drop
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To: arrogantsob

The judge had entered a preliminary judgment against the O admin.

He was shaking the hand of Giffords as they were shot.

Coincidence? I doubt it.


12 posted on 01/11/2011 4:09:22 AM PST by dforest
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To: balch3

He may have been followed, not to mention that he had been asked to be there prior to the event. His secirity detail had just been pulled and he was killed just 72 hours after the preliminary judgment against the O admin.

You see, nothing is ever as it seems in high stakes politics.


13 posted on 01/11/2011 4:12:47 AM PST by dforest
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To: rudabaga

They “mention” Roll but obsess over Giffords and the alleged ‘Tea Party Connection’.

Big difference, especially if you’re trying to plant a meme that demonizes conservatives.

I’m starting to wonder if *she* was ‘collateral damage’.

There’s definitely a method to his seeming madness, IMO.


14 posted on 01/11/2011 10:12:04 AM PST by Salamander (Cursed with Second Sight)
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To: boop

Another thing that has bothered me is the number of shots fired and the number of people hit. Twenty hit seems like a hell of a lot. Was this guy a crack shot not to miss? Firearm experts might answer this: is this Glock (if it was a Glock) capable of firing twenty shots from one clip? Can someone post a picture of one with a clip?


15 posted on 01/11/2011 11:59:16 AM PST by arrogantsob
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To: Salamander

This is also reminiscent of Jack Ruby stalking Oswald after the JFK killing and his showing up at the time Oswald was being transferred just by “dumb luck” if you believe the official reports. Or Sirhan being in the kitchen just in the nick of time to kill RFK.


16 posted on 01/11/2011 12:02:00 PM PST by arrogantsob
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To: indylindy

Very interesting.


17 posted on 01/11/2011 4:56:28 PM PST by arrogantsob
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To: Salamander
didn’t he have like a gazillion death threats against him?

He did, but not from lefties-- the death threats all came from a decision of his permitting illegal aliens to sue a rancher for false imprisonment. (There were also some very heated threads on FR about that case at the time.)

18 posted on 01/11/2011 5:05:27 PM PST by Lurking Libertarian (Non sub homine, sed sub Deo et lege)
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To: arrogantsob

IMO, the judge was the actual target. It will be interesting to see who replaces him and what the final judgment will be.

Shame people get away with ths stuff.


19 posted on 01/11/2011 5:08:30 PM PST by dforest
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To: indylindy

I know I am conspiracy minded but this started to stink instantly and then I watch the media - ALL the media - shamelessly start to make the same mindless comments and ignore the same doubts and questions.

It is bad when you cannot believe a thing they say.


20 posted on 01/11/2011 5:11:17 PM PST by arrogantsob
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