Posted on 01/03/2016 1:54:57 AM PST by Nachum
A group of militiamen on Saturday occupied the headquarters of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon in support of two brothers who are slated to report to prison on Monday on arson charges - and the protesters don't plan on leaving any time soon, saying it's 'kill or be killed' time.
Militia members claimed to have as many as 150 supporters with them at the Malheur National Wildlife refuge building in Princeton, which is federal property managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service that was closed for the holiday weekend.
They later rescinded the number and said they would not disclose how many people were in the building, because of 'operational security'. Local reporters have said that there only appears to be a dozen cars outside of the building.
'We're planning on staying here for years, absolutely,' Ammon Bundy, one of the occupiers, told the Oregonian via telephone. ‘This is not a decision we've made at the last minute.'
Ammon Bundy and his brother Ryan, who is another occupier, are the sons of of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who was involved in a 2014 standoff with the government over grazing rights.
The occupation came shortly after 300 marchers paraded through Burns, Oregon, about 50 miles away, to protest at the prosecution of father and son Harney County ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr and Steven Hammond, who were ordered returned to prison by a federal court which ruled their original sentences were insufficient.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The appeals court found that just because the government did not mention any possibility of appealing the sentence during the plea agreement it doesn't mean that any waiver of the right to appeal was expressed or implied. The government had argued for the minimum sentence both during sentencing and in their sentencing memorandum, and noted that the judge lacked the discretion to give sentences less than the mandatory minimum.
Gee, I wonder when the Feds are going to indict the members of the district court who "illegally" sentenced them?
If they indicted every judge who had their decision overturned by an appeals court then half the judiciary would be locked up.
The teenager’s testimony was, I believe it’s called, impeached. The judge didn’t buy it.
Well, the pickle they’re in now, is that the government, who waived their right to appeal the sentences, decided after the fact, that they weren’t happy with the sentences, and appealed them afterall. In my opinion, that’s pure bull$hit.
The appeals court must be full of psychics, since they imply they knew what was in the minds of the Federal attorneys at that time.
I think your assessment of the situation is spot on.... In my dealings with rangers in the national forest I find them to be absolute pricks.... (Pardon my French).
Not psychics, lawyers. The court lays out it's reasoning in their decision: Link. Seems pretty clear to me.
Careful Dusty....I find some twits aren't little at all....and some of the little ones carry very big guns..!
But you make a very good point....we sure need to find out more about what's going out there.... But I'll be the first to admit...I DON'T trust the government one tiny bit..!
:)
They are not leasing the land, they have grazing permits, those are different things.
It doesn’t matter how good the deal is either way. If I give you a permit to hold a concert for a penny. If part of the permit agreement states that I will clean up the litter afterwards - then I am obligated to clean up the litter. I am not relieved of my obligation simply because I only charged you a penny. Part of the BLM’s obligation is to manage and maintain the grazing land. The congress has actually mandated this.
Aaaaaah - there is a disagreement, that is friction!
The feds planted sent an informant onto their place - clear evidence of previous friction between the two parties.
Was that the same government tit from which you leased mineral rights and made all your self-righteous money?
So it is OK for you to suck that tit, but screw everybody else?
You have already admitted your complete ignorance of the debate, sweetheart, why don’t you toddle along to a topic you know something about?
Thanks for the link. After reading it, and checking out the Eighth Amendment, I can understand why the district court felt that the longer sentences could/would be in violation of that Amendment.
I’m sure they have 10 guys to replace him that are just as willing to assassinate American mothers clutching their babies.
Oh did they now? And the source for this is?
We all complain about judicial activism, whether it's by the Supreme Court of an Appeals Court. What happened here is no different. The law mandates a minimum sentence. The Supreme Court has upheld minimum sentences. For the district court to decide that they weren't bound by the law is judicial activism, no more and no less. It's their job to uphold the law, not make it.
Sorry darling but I’ve never leased minerals from the government, we own all the minerals on our place and what I have leased was from private individuals.
“Careful Dusty....I find some twits aren’t little at all....and some of the little ones carry very big guns..!”
The size of a man never was much of a concern to me, there’s been some pretty big old Texas roughnecks didn’t think I could put the cuff’s on them. But that was in my younger days. Hell I carried a gun for this country, a gun for this county and now I carry just in case I run into 2 or 4 legged varmints/twits.
Too bad they haven't upheld other laws. The whole judicial system is arbitrary and capricious. They enforce the laws they want enforced, and refuse to enforce the ones they don't like. We've seen it time and again with this Administration. They have repeatedly refused to follow the orders of the courts if they don't agree, and nothing has been done to them.
Which seems to be what the first judge did in this case when he imposed sentences less than the minimum. It can't be right in this case and wrong in others.
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