(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Your Honor, May I Approach the Bench... with a Dictionary? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-27 For the second time, a federal judge has rejected prosecutors’ recommendations that a January 6 defendant be sentenced not only for violent crime, but for terrorism. Trevor McFadden, appointed to the US District Court for the District of Columbia by Donald Trump in 2017, agreed with Department of Justice prosecutors that the defendant, David Judd was “part of some of the most violent and shocking confrontations with police officers that day,” which he called “a flagrant affront to our system of government.” Still, His Honor couldn’t bring himself to call Mr. Judd’s actions “terrorism,” and rejected DoJ’s request that Judd be sentenced to 90 months in prison, shortening the sentence by almost two-thirds. The judge was certainly within his authority to adjust Judd’s sentence. However, his reason for doing so ran counter to both federal law and the English language. In Judge McFadden’s mind, Judd’s actions on January 6 couldn’t have been “terrorism” because “Judd didn’t appear to preplan his attack the way terrorists like those in a 2012 attack on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, did.” “Terrorism,” as defined by Merriam-Webster, is simply “the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.” Judd’s actions, throwing an explosive device to clear a path for rioters to reach the capitol, certainly sound terrifying. But legal definitions cannot be as general as those in a dictionary, so let us look at the law itself, which Judge McFadden is purportedly using as the measure of his ruling. 18 USC Ch. 113B, Sec. 2331 defines “domestic terrorism” as follows: (5) the term "domestic terrorism" means activities that— (A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; (B) appear to be intended— (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and (C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States There is no modification of the definition based on whether such acts are planned or spontaneous. None. Terrorism can be premeditated for months or years. Terrorism can be spur of the moment. McFadden seems to have a hardon for Merrick Garland’s Justice Department, as he not only rejected DoJ’s sentencing enhancement based on domestic terrorism, he even reduced Judd’s sentence below guidelines for the crime itself. And made certain all present knew his opinion of Justice. McFadden used Monday’s sentencing hearing to strike another blow in a long-running critique of the Justice Department, which he has accused of treating Jan. 6 cases more harshly than rioters charged alongside the social justice protests in the summer of 2020. He said DOJ’s charging decisions in some of those cases cast doubt on Attorney General Merrick Garland’s vow for there “not to be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans. One rule for friends, one rule for foes.” Indeed, your Honor, rules should be applied equally. And laws should be applied as written. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/27/2155327/-Your-Honor-May-I-Approach-the-Bench-with-a-Dictionary Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/