Subject: Re: UK: Woman Convicted of Hate Crime for Using a No-No Word to Describe Her Attacker
BTR1701 <
atropos@mac.com> wrote:
On Nov 30, 2025 at 3:36:16 PM PST, ""Adam H. Kerman"" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
Nov 29, 2025 9:21:53 PM PST, super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid>:
. . .
Apparently the trumpnuts have been forced to look to England for
anecdotes of their white male grievance, Dear Leader has become so
unpopular at home.
Ever hear of a canary in a coal mine?
All of the oppression and lunacy of the leftist governments of Europe--
especially the UK-- are a precursor to what they'll try here if given
the chance. We're usually about six months to a year behind them.
Thankfully, here their crap mostly runs into the brick wall of the 1st
Amendment which won't allow the government to do the things they do in
Europe. The idea that one could be arrested for using a bad word in a
private conversation (or even out in public) is so absurd we don't even
think about it here. Or that you could be jailed for saying something
that merely hurts someone else's feelings.
But there's no doubt that the radical Left in America would absolutely
impose on us the same sort of Stasi-like environment, along with
two-tier exceptions from those laws for everyone who's protected under
the Diversity Umbrella, if they could.
Trump's America is without laws, without civil rights. The Constitution
does not exist and John Roberts has yet to rein in any of Trump's
excesses. If anything, he's Trump's biggest enablers.
The January 6th rioters seized the Capitol and never left.
Trump ordered Border Patrol to use violence against protestors, then lie
that the violence was justified because protestors themselves had
committed violence.
Criticize Trump, get prosecuted.
There are literally millions of people criticizing Trump every day on the >internet and on TV, and every two months there's another of those insipid "no >kings" marches, which couldn't happen at all if it was actually illegal to >criticize Trump.
Here's what's going on in the US Attorney's Office, and ours is led by
an actual prosecutor. You tell me that Trump is honoring the
Constitution. Charges get filed based on sworn affidavits of federal law enforcement officers that cannot be sustained once it becomes clear that
the officer swore falsely.
Have you ever seen anything of the kind that it's no longer routine that
a prosecutor can indict on a sworn statement of a law enforcement
officer?
Full-text copyright infringement follows
Judge's unusual criticism in dropped immigration case is latest strange
twist for US attorney's office
By Jason Meisner
Chicago Tribune
PUBLISHED: November 30, 2025 at 5:00 AM CST UPDATED: November 30, 2025
at 9:23 AM CST
In the four months since U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros was appointed to
an open-ended term as Chicago's top federal prosecutor, his office has
seen a large turnover in leadership, been buffeted by the government
shutdown and thrown headlong into the controversial Operation Midway
Blitz immigration enforcement mission.
Unusual times to be sure. But then last week, things got even weirder.
After dismissing several criminal cases against protesters of the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement policies, the U.S. attorney's office was called to the woodshed in an extraordinary opinion
by a federal magistrate judge that lit up the water cooler talk in legal circles.
In granting the prosecution's motion to dismiss assault charges against
Dana Briggs, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes took the opportunity
to opine more generally on the U.S. attorney's office's role in
prosecuting a number of other immigration-related cases that have since
fallen apart.
In his nine-page opinion, Fuentes wrote he could not "help but note just
how unusual and possibly unprecedented it is" for Chicago's venerable
U.S. attorney's office to bring charges "so hastily" that, once more
facts came out, they were unable to obtain an indictment in the grand
jury or were forced to dismiss the case as not provable.
"Being charged with a federal felony, even if it is later reduced to a misdemeanor, is no walk in the park," Fuentes wrote. "...And any
responsible federal prosecutor knows this. Any responsible federal
prosecutor knows that federal charges, or any actions by the United
States Attorney directed at the citizenry, must be undertaken with the
utmost care."
Fuentes, a former assistant U.S. attorney and journalist, closed by
saying "doing the right thing has been a mantra of the Chicago U.S.
Attorney's Office for generations."
"Let it remain so," he said.
Fuentes' opinion was cheered by some who saw the U.S. attorney's
office's decision to bring serious felony charges against protesters --
even in cases where the agents appeared to be the aggressors -- as heavy-handed. Supporters also said Fuentes put into words what many have
been worried about: that a traditionally apolitical and professional
office was bringing cases without merit to satisfy some larger goal of
the Trump administration.
Others, however, said Fuentes was way out over his skis, offering an
op-ed style political commentary mostly on cases that he did not even
preside over.
"Who does he think he is, grandstanding like that?" said Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan, a longtime veteran of the U.S. attorney's office
who has served under more bosses than anyone still there. "I have never
in 45 years read an opinion remotely like that. It is shocking."
Fuentes declined to comment further on the ruling Wednesday.
Hogan personally handled one of the cases that Fuentes criticized: Cole Sheridan, an Oak Park man accused of shoving Border Control Cmdr.
Gregory Bovino in the back during a protest at the Broadview ICE
facility on Oct. 3.
Sheridan became a mini-cause celebre in the west suburbs, where he was
held up as an example of prosecutorial overreach in the Trump era.
But Hogan said that case actually showed the U.S. attorney's office
doing its job correctly. When agents make an arrest and refer the case
for prosecution -- with Bovino as the alleged victim and complaining
witness in Sheridan's case -- prosecutors have to make a quick decision
to file a charges or "cut them loose" pending further investigation, he
said.
Hogan said prosecutors by and large chose the latter approach in the
hundreds of cases referred to the office during Operation Midway Blitz.
In Sheridan's case, initial video footage from the scene did not capture
the entire incident and a decision was made to file a criminal complaint
based on sworn affidavits of the agents.
But as the case was prepared to go before the grand jury, Hogan said he
asked for an extension to file an indictment so they could continue to investigate. During that time, they found someone had a camera "behind
the lines who caught the entire incident on video and demonstrated to us
the kid was innocent," Hogan said.
Hogan filed a motion to drop the case Nov. 3 -- exactly one month after
the incident.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Heather McShain, unlike her colleague, granted the
motion without fanfare, Hogan noted.
The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on whether cases like
Sheridan's damaged the credibility of Bovino going forward, saying in a
written statement the office is "constantly evaluating new facts and information" in Midway Blitz investigation.
"This continuous review process applies to all matters--whether charged
or under investigation," the statement read. "It helps ensure that the interests of justice are served in each and every case, and that those
cases that are charged are appropriately adjudicated through our federal
court system."
In an interview last week, Boutros said Operation Midway Blitz was unprecedented for the office and put a strain on staff that only got
more intense after the government shut down in early October.
Boutros said the office processed more than 200 immigration-related
cases in just 60 days, more than half what was typically done in a full
year, even as many staff members, including the office's civil
attorneys, were working limited hours due to furlough or were going
without pay.
A chart released as part of U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis' recent
preliminary injunction restricting the use of force by agents showed
that out of nearly 100 protest-related arrests around the Chicago area
between Sept. 2 and Oct. 29, only 15 were approved for charges by the
U.S. attorney's office.
Many of those arrested were issued citations, the chart shows, while
about 20 others were listed as "declined," meaning they did not face any
legal action. Investigations were "continuing" for a handful of others.
Boutros decline to comment on Fuentes's opinion.
Meanwhile, Fuentes' negative remarks about are not the only reason the
U.S. attorney's office has been in recent headlines.
In August, several media outlets reported that Boutros had sent out an unorthodox email to former prosecutors who were now in private practice
asking them to consider coming back to the office and to encourage
friends who might be interested to do the same.
The Washington Post reported on the letter as an example of a wider
problem of the Justice Department bleeding talent due to the Trump administration's policies, which have led to unprecedented turmoil and embarrassing episodes such as the filing of charges -- and their abrupt dismissal -- against former FBI Director James Comey.
The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago has indeed seen an exodus of
veteran prosecutors and section leaders this year.
Shortly before Boutros was first appointed in April, longtime Assistant
U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu, chief of the Public Corruption and
Organized Crime section who'd headed investigations into Chicago
mobsters and politicians such as Edward Burke and Michael Madigan,
announced he was leaving.
Steven Dollear, the National Security and Cybercrime section chief, soon followed. Then, in August, Erika Csicsila abruptly quit after serving as
the chief of the entire criminal division -- a move that several sources
said came after she had initially accepted reassignment to the public corruption squad.
In recent months, the office has also lost Barry Jonas, a top national
security prosecutor, and other line prosecutors with years of
experience.
And this month, Sarah Streicker, the veteran prosecutor who replaced
Bhachu as head of public corruption just months ago, is also leaving the office.
While the number of departures in such a short period of time is
unusual, it's typical for there to be a shakeup whenever there is a
change in administrations and a new U.S. attorney comes in, particularly
with top deputies who report directly to the boss.
That reality can be significantly augmented In a solid-blue city such as Chicago, where ambitious attorneys looking to get ahead know that
Democrats still hold most of the reins and having helped execute the
justice policies of the Trump administration -- such as the wildly
unpopular Midway Blitz surge -- is certainly no resume booster.
In his comments to the Tribune, Boutros acknowledged staffing levels in
his office are down, though the reasons for it are complex. When he
started earlier this year, there were 142 total attorneys in the office, including criminal prosecutors and attorneys on the civil litigation
side.
As of Wednesday, those numbers had dropped to 127, with only 90 criminal prosecutors working in the Chicago office and another six in Rockford, according to figures provided to the Tribune.
Some current and former staffers who spoke to the Tribune on condition
of anonymity said the office has changed over the years in ways that
have little or nothing to do with Trump. People tend to stay for shorter periods, leaving a higher percentage of young attorneys and a dearth of veterans with more than six years under their belts. There's also been
less drive to bring difficult cases or take risks in big investigations,
some sources said.
Boutros said he was in the process of a hiring surge that was bringing
fresh talent into the office after years of sagging productivity that
landed the office at or near the bottom when it comes to key metrics
kept by the district courts, including indictments filed and criminal
trials handled per year.
"We are building up the ranks again," Boutros said, adding that he's
been green-lighted to hire 25 new prosecutors in the coming weeks, and
that applications have come in from experienced attorneys all over the
country. "I am excited to have the ability to restock our office with
veteran federal criminal and civil prosecutors."
Boutros said indictments are on their way up, particularly when it comes
to gun crimes and violence, adding the office has achieved "impressive
results" with far fewer prosecutors and resources.
Overall, there were 366 federal criminal indictments filed January
through October, an increase of 45% over the same period last year,
Boutros said.
Hogan, who joined the U.S. attorney's office in 1982 and has seen it
cycle through eight presidential administrations, said the Chicago
office has remained stable even as other districts have been mired in
turmoil.
That includes Trump's appointment of his former personal lawyer Alina
Habba as U.S. attorney in New Jersey and the more recent fallout over
Lindsey Halligan, another acolyte of the president's whose selection to
lead the U.S. attorney's office in Eastern Virginia disintegrated when
the judge presiding over the Comey case ruled she'd been illegally
appointed.
Hogan said Boutros is no Habba or Halligan, but an experienced former
federal prosecutor and white-collar attorney who's spent countless hours interviewing each employee to find out where they think improvements can
be made in the office.
Hogan has also helped out in the interviewing process and seen that
there are many "extremely competent people waiting to take jobs" here, including experienced attorneys from other U.S. attorney's offices
around the country.
"They're beating down the doors," Hogan said.
NOTE: This story has updated to reflect prosecutor Amarjeet Bhachu left
the U.S. attorney's office shortly before Andrew Boutros was first
appointed as U.S. attorney in April.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/30/u-s-attorneys-office-immigration-challenges/
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