Patterico's Pontifications

7/29/2010

Bank on It

Filed under: Crime,Terrorism — DRJ @ 9:57 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Major Nidal Hasan has banking problems because he can’t find a bank to take his money via direct deposit.

Fort Hood officials are reportedly working with Hasan’s attorney to waive the direct deposit requirement.

— DRJ

USC’s 2010 Media Guide

Filed under: Sports — DRJ @ 8:40 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Are you ready for college football? I’m always ready and after a little housecleaning, USC may be ready, too:

“[T]he Trojans’ media guide has undergone some late-breaking revisionism to account for Reggie Bush’s vanishing Heisman Trophy, apparently overnight.”

Before-and-after media guides are shown at the link.

— DRJ

Lionel Toy Train Convention

Filed under: General — DRJ @ 7:31 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Wouldn’t it be fun to go to the Lionel Toy Train Convention in Denver?

“More than 1,000 model-train buffs such as Cook have taken over the Denver Marriott Tech Center hotel this week for the Lionel Collectors Club of America’s 40th annual convention.”

Here is Lionel’s website and the Convention is sponsored by the Lionel Collectors Club. According to the Convention Program, attendees really can ride trains every day and there are several to choose from in the Denver area.

— DRJ

Rangel Charged With Ethics Violations

Filed under: Government,Politics — DRJ @ 6:20 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Former House Ways and Means Chairman and current Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY) has been charged with 13 ethics violations.

I suspect Rangel’s age, status and longevity makes him think he can survive this politically, much as President Bill Clinton survived impeachment. If so, I think Rangel has misjudged this situation.

— DRJ

Journolist Included Political Operatives

Filed under: Media Bias — DRJ @ 1:45 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Ho, hum. Another day, another Daily Caller story about how Journolist members — including political operatives — worked to shape the news to fit the liberal narrative.

And to think these elite journalists are the future of America.

— DRJ

Arizona Appeals Immigration Order

Filed under: Immigration,Law — DRJ @ 1:31 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

The State of Arizona has appealed Judge Susan Bolton’s order enjoining sections of SB 1070 as immigration protesters surged in Phoenix:

“Arizona asked an appeals court Thursday to lift a judge’s order blocking most of the state’s immigration law as the city of Phoenix filled with protesters, including 50 who were arrested for confronting officers in riot gear.
***
Outside the state Capitol, hundreds of protesters began marching at dawn, gathering in front of the federal courthouse where Bolton issued her ruling on Wednesday. They marched on to the office of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has made a crackdown on illegal immigration one of his signature issues.”

Sheriff Arpaio told Fox News Neal Cavuto that most of the protesters were bussed in from California.

— DRJ

Arizona Ruling (At Urging of Obama Administration) Undermines “Deport the Criminals First”

Filed under: Court Decisions,Deport the Criminals First,Immigration — Patterico @ 7:04 am



On this blog I have had a recurring series called “Deport the Criminals First.” The idea is that, unless you are in favor of a complete open border policy, you would want to see the most undesirable illegal immigrants deported first: criminals, starting with violent criminals. I have therefore advocated checking the immigration status of every person arrested for a crime, especially violent crimes, and ensuring that we have sufficient resources to identify and deport violent criminals once they have served their sentences.

I see this as a completely noncontroversial and bipartisan proposal. I have repeatedly highlighted the tragic and often fatal consequences that visit victims when law enforcement fails to take this very basic step.

Professor William Jacobsen notes that, in the most startling portion of yesterday’s outrageous decision blocking implementation of most of Arizona’s immigration law, law enforcement officials are now apparently prevented from running such basic, common-sense immigration checks:

The inability of a state to implement a policy of checking the immigration status even of people already under arrest for some other crime is remarkable.

. . . . [S]tates already routinely run searches for a variety of statuses, including outstanding warrants, child support orders, and non-immigration identity checks. Each of these checks potentially could delay release of an innocent person or burden some federal agency.

The Judge’s reasoning, particularly that the status check provision violated the 4th Amendment even as to persons already under arrest, applies just as easily to these other status checks.

With a federal government which refuses to take action at the border until there is a deal on “comprehensive” immigration reform, meaning rewarding lawbreakers with a path to citizenship, this decision will [e]nsure a sense of anarchy. The law breakers have been emboldened today, for sure.

Understand clearly what is happening, according to Professor Jacobsen. Officials who arrest illegal immigrants for crimes, even violent ones, are apparently blocked from checking the immigration status of those suspects, under the reasoning of a decision that invalidates as unconstitutional a policy requiring such checks.

I have not read the ruling myself to verify this, but if this is true, it is stunning.

This can’t get to the Supreme Court fast enough. Let’s hope it gets there before Obama packs the court with more liberals who would turn a blind eye to common sense.


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