Posted on 10/11/2005 12:20:25 PM PDT by Iron Matron
Judge denies media request for felons' names Elliot Jaspin - Staff Thursday, September 29, 2005
Washington --- The "privacy interests" of illegal immigrants who have been convicted of felonies in the United States would be compromised if the government released their names and other identifying information, a federal judge has ruled.
Citing court rulings and federal laws aimed at protecting individuals from unwarranted embarrassment or injury, Judge Richard Leon on Tuesday rejected a request from the Washington bureau of Cox Newspapers to release the names of illegal immigrants who are being held, or have been, in U.S. jails. These names are collected by the U.S. Justice Department as part of a program to pay state and local governments for some of the costs of incarcerating criminal immigrants.
Cox Newspapers filed suit against the Justice Department in 2003, seeking the list under the federal Freedom of Information Act after discovering that the federal government frequently neglects to deport illegal immigrants convicted of felonies after they have served their sentences.
In one case, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who had molested a 3-year-old girl in Georgia walked out of prison in 2001 after serving his sentence and disappeared because no one from the federal government was there to deport him.
In its court filings, Cox Newspapers argued that the public's right to know about convicted rapists, thieves and murderers who are in the country illegally outweighed any right to privacy they might have
.
Beyond asserting that criminal immigrants have a right to privacy, Leon did not explain why their privacy outweighed the public interest. "The privacy intrusion associated with disclosing this information," he wrote in his 11-page opinion, "clearly outweighs the public disclosure of the information."
Mark Tapscott, a FOIA expert with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, called the decision "idiotic" and said he is confident it would be overturned on appeal. "This is a serious blow to the public's right to know," he said.
Jon Hart, the Washington attorney representing Cox Newspapers in the case, said the company has not yet decided whether it will
Appointed by Bush (w).
In case anyone wondered why so many are up in arms about the Miers nomination, here you go.
O.M.G. !!!
The USA is turning into Canada before my very eyes.
Sad.
Judge Leon was appointed to the United States District Court in February 2002. He received his A.B. from Holy Cross College in 1971, his J.D. cum laude from Suffolk Law School in 1974, and his LL.M. from Harvard Law School in 1981. Prior to being appointed to the bench, Judge Leon was engaged in private practice in Washington, D.C. from 1989 to 2002. Earlier in his career, Judge Leon served at the U.S. Department of Justice in a number of positions, including Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment Division, Senior Trial Attorney in the Criminal Section of the Tax Division, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. In addition, Judge Leon served as counsel to congressional committees in the investigations of three sitting Presidents and as Special Counsel to the U.S. House Ethics Reform Task Force. He also served as a Commissioner on the White House Fellows Commission and the Judicial Review Commission on Foreign Asset Control. A former full-time law professor at St. John’s Law School, Judge Leon is currently an adjunct law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center.
http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/leon-bio.html
illegals have more rights than American citizens...
WTF? That's public record. Right now I can go online to get all the sex offenders in my area, find out who is currently in holding, get full dossiers (including photos) of everybody in a state prison system, and a bunch of other records of those arrested or convicted for crimes. It's purely PC BS that we can't get this information.
Bill O. on Fox did a good job of reporting on this last night with Judge Nopalitano. The bottom line is: under this adminstration ILLEGALS HAVE MORE RIGHTS THAN U.S. CITIZENS DO. What a crock of excrement. After I heard this last night, my wife nearly had to throw a bucket of water on me...this is total insanity and we all know who is behind the BIG PRO-ILLEGAL-MEXICAN position in Washington.
This is a real tragedy for our nation and we are watching it being engineered and conducted right before our very eyes.
By the same token, the federal government's sex offender list ought to be scrapped.
What in the hell is he talking about...that kind of stuff is part of the public record!
It's purely PC BS that we can't get this information.
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It is actually WORSE than that. The "government" (justice department) wants to desperately HIDE THE IDENTITY of what is coming across our borders. It is total politically-driven INSANITY. Think about that. YOUR GOVERNMENT is hiding the identity of felons, which means they are protecting the CRIMINALS and saying "DROP DEAD" to American citizens -- who have every Constitutional right to this information. Just another MASSIVE, DELIBERATE FAILURE to perform for the American people.
The sheeple have lost their way.
BTW, this Judge was appointed by George W. Bush..now he's working on the SCOTUS.
Not according to THIS Administration...
In one case, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who had molested a 3-year-old girl in Georgia walked out of prison in 2001 after serving his sentence and disappeared because no one from the federal government was there to deport him.
ping
If the sex offenders are Illegal Immigrants, specifically from Mexico.. of course, the list MUST be scrapped! /sarcasm
We are letting it happen.
The sheeple have lost their way.
BTW, this Judge was appointed by George W. Bush..now he's working on the SCOTUS.
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So what do we do? We OBVIOUSLY cannot trust any Republican administration...so who do we install in Washington? Another GWB - no thanks. Certainly not a raving Marxist (Hitlery) who would make this "little issue" look like child's play. So what is left?
"Beyond asserting that criminal immigrants have a right to privacy, Leon did not explain why their privacy outweighed the public interest. 'The privacy intrusion associated with disclosing this information,' he wrote in his 11-page opinion, 'clearly outweighs the public disclosure of the information.'
"Mark Tapscott, a FOIA expert with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, called the decision 'idiotic' and said he is confident it would be overturned on appeal. 'This is a serious blow to the public's right to know,' he said.'
Who appointed this guy to the bench? Shows the importance of knowing what you'll be getting before the appointment.
Ive been supportive of Miers but her feelings on this sort of thing could certainly be a deal breaker for me.
Ive been supportive of Miers but her feelings on this sort of thing could certainly be a deal breaker for me.
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