Posted on 09/11/2004 6:23:32 PM PDT by AdamSelene235
BRIGHTON - Gun-rights activist Rick Stanley, a Denver businessman and former Libertarian candidate for the U.S. Senate, was sentenced to six years in prison Friday for threatening two judges.
Stanley, 49, owner of Stanley Fastener & Shop Supply in northeast Denver, was taken from Adams County District Court in handcuffs.
"When you really analyze it, this is an assault on the very system of justice in this country," said presiding Judge Joseph R. Quinn, a retired state Supreme Court justice.
Stanley's attorney, Brett Davies, said the punishment was "worse" than expected.
"They've made a monster out of him," Davies said.
In addition to prison time - three years each for the two judges - Stanley was sentenced to six years of mandatory parole and ordered to pay $10,000 in fines, plus $8,250 restitution to police who worked overtime to protect the judges. Quinn set an $80,000 bond and said Stanley must be monitored by the court until his appeal is resolved.
Unlike previous court appearances, in which hallways and doorways were crowded with police and a SWAT team and metal detectors were deployed, there was no extra security at the courthouse Friday.
Davies gave the judge 89 letters of support for Stanley "attesting to his good moral character." "Free Rick Stanley" signs dotted roadways.
Stanley was found guilty in late June of two felony counts of attempting to influence a public official. He was accused of sending Thornton Municipal Judge Charles J. Rose and 17th Judicial District Judge Donald W. Marshall Jr. a "notice of order" demanding that they reverse his conviction for a weapons violation or face arrest by Stanley's Mutual Defense Pact Militia and a trial for treason.
Rose had convicted Stanley and sentenced him to 90 days in jail for carrying a firearm onto public property while campaigning in 2002 in Thornton. Marshall upheld the conviction when Stanley appealed.
Stanley argued that his sentence and record should have have been voided after Gov. Bill Owens signed a law limiting local governments from regulating firearms.
Stanley also was arrested in Denver in 2001 for carrying a loaded handgun in a holster at a Bill of Rights rally. In June, Stanley's home and business were raided by the Internal Revenue Service.
"I think Rick Stanley in prison is where Rick Stanley belongs," said Adams County District Attorney Robert Grant.
Stanley spoke before the sentencing.
"I was violated by men who have no honor or integrity," Stanley said. "The only victim here is Rick Stanley, on behalf of every American."
Rose also spoke before sentencing, referring to Stanley as "the felon."
"Never have I been so personally attacked verbally or threatened with bodily harm," Rose said. Rose described Stanley as a "paranoid demagogue with delusions of grandeur."
At one point, Rose asked Stanley to "call off the dogs."
Davies said that other than the events leading up to the sentencing - and four speeding tickets - Stanley has a clean record. Davies said his client has a right to free speech.
"There have been no overt threats of violence," Davies said.
Yeah, on violations of laws that are no longer in effect.
USC "Felony Sick of Seeing You" punishable by up to 10 years and $100,000.
Look, you defend him. I don't really care that he's out of the headlines.
That can happen when you threaten a judge.
I saw no threat in this article.
What supposedly did he say? That the judges would be ultimately responsible for their criminal actions?
"... sending Thornton Municipal Judge Charles J. Rose and 17th Judicial District Judge Donald W. Marshall Jr. a "notice of order" demanding that they reverse his conviction for a weapons violation or face arrest by Stanley's Mutual Defense Pact Militia and a trial for treason."
"apparently you lack the same insight that Mr. Stanley lacks. Threatening to arrest a sitting judge for treason is tantamount to a death threat. The penalty for treason is death."
In January 1969 I swore an oath:
I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;.....
foreign AND DOMESTIC
Are you saying there are NO domestic enemies?
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
Ronald Reagan
So what do you do when the judges actively violate both the federal and state constitutions? Most people just shut up and take it. Stanley tried to stand up to them, and he ends up in jail.
Many of us took an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign *and* domestic. These judges certainly seem to meet the criteria for domestic enemies.
Stanley tried to go through the legal process, assuming that the legal system would not violate the rights he was so clearly guaranteed by both constitutions.
Yes, he got a little crazy after it became apparent that the judges had no integrity to their oath and the system routinely violated peoples rights.
It is understandable how people can go a little crazy in that situation.
On what planet is sending judges "a 'notice of order' demanding that they reverse his conviction for a weapons violation or face arrest by Stanley's Mutual Defense Pact Militia and a trial for treason" an attempt to go through the legal process?
"If you love wealth better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."
-- Sammuel Adams
We would still be serfs under the british lords slaving for them for the like of your kind.
NOTICE: Those here who are demanding "Blind Obedience" to the the "Masters" of the court are mostly newbies!
Just another batch of RINO's from the left apparantly.
Although I am not a citizen of Colorado, and thus have no stake in this matter, I am delighted to see that a violent thug got what was coming to him. I guess justice works.
When did Mr. Stanley employ violence?
Well, there was the part where he sent threatening letters to judges, demanding that they submit to the tender mercies of his gang.
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