BC COURT
Saved by @Alex1Powell

Some initial observations about this case, and in particular what the Court of Appeal made of the Attorney General’s application to refer these sentences as “unduly lenient”.

Spoiler: it makes uncomfortable reading for the Attorney General.

 First, by way of background. I was one of several commentators astonished that the Attorney General, who has no known experience of practising criminal law, decided to personally present this serious case at the Court of Appeal.

It appeared an overtly political decision. https://t.co/Q5idP3FyZp
Comments leaked to the press confirmed this was a political decision, to capitalise on a tragic case in the headlines.

A “friend” of the Attorney General told the Express that she was pursuing the case *against* legal advice. She also took a preemptive pop at the judges. https://t.co/vwvJ5yHIj8
On the day of the hearing, it appeared from selected reports that the AG was out of her depth. She appeared to be making political submissions to the Court of Appeal that have no place in a case of this type. https://t.co/PJH1UCn0aQ
The Court of Appeal judgment helps understand what happened.

The AG played a limited role. She “rehearsed some of the facts and said that the sentences had caused widespread public concern”

Her contribution was seemingly not considered by the Court to be legal submissions. Oof.
Instead, legal submissions were advanced by the experienced criminal QC being “led” by the Attorney General. It was left to him to advance the argument that the AG was herself apparently unable or unwilling to.
An important paragraph. One detects that the intended audience is not just the public.
The Court of Appeal turns to the Attorney General’s legal argument.

These are words that you don’t want to hear from a judge.

“Striking.” “Unusual.”

“Regrettable” that a key point - the structure and ambit of the relevant Sentencing Guideline - was “not addressed”.
The AG could not complain that the sentencing judge had not followed the Guideline - because he clearly had. So instead, she argued he was under a duty *not* to follow it.

Striking and unusual indeed.

Court of Appeal: No “sufficient explanation [was] given” for this contention.
The Attorney General also claimed that the judge made too great a reduction in sentence to reflect the defendants’ age and learning difficulties. The Court of Appeal said she had shown “no basis” for this argument.
The conclusion? “There is no basis on which it can be said that...the custodial terms imposed on the offenders were unduly lenient.”

A resounding rejection of the Attorney General’s efforts.
The Court of Appeal also had little time (4 paragraphs!) for the defence argument that the sentences were manifestly excessive or wrong in principle. They quickly approved the sentencing judge’s approach and said that the defence grounds of appeal were “unarguable”.
One final thing. Neither the Attorney General, nor indeed the defence, spotted that the sentence was technically unlawful for other reasons. Court of Appeal in-house lawyers had to point it out.

Happens to us all, but still not great for the government’s most senior law officer.
So a resounding defeat all round.

Exactly as the AG was apparently advised by her own lawyers.

It is one thing to lose a case, even heavily, that you genuinely believe to be arguable.

But to pursue a case against legal advice at public expense for political gain? Not good.
So the headline:

The Attorney General was advised by experienced government lawyers that this application had no legal merit.

She pursued it anyway, briefed the tabloids that any judge who found against her was a “wet liberal”, insisted on presenting it herself, and lost.
I’m aware that my criticism of the AG is not universally popular.

If she stops exonerating political advisors, approving government law-breaking, sitting silent as lawyers are attacked by her colleagues and intervening in criminal cases for political gain, I’ll happily stop too.

More from Court

braingarbage
braingarbage
@braingarbage
All filings, including case initiating documents, may be submitted as PDF attachments to an
e-mail addressed to [email protected]. Documents e-mailed to other court email addresses will not be accepted for filing and will receive no response.

Failure to use the
correct e-mail address may result in revocation or restriction of e-mail filing privileges.

• All filings must include a case caption page that complies with Local Rule 10.
• The filing must be signed with s/ [filer's name] or bear a scanned handwritten signature.
• The e-mail must contain the party's name, address, and phone number.

For existing cases, the e-mail's subject line must state: Pro Se Filing [Insert Your Case
Number]. For new cases, the e-mail's subject line must state: Pro Se Filing in New Case.

• E-mails and filings that do not comply with these requirements will not be filed, and the
Court will request a revision that complies with this Order.
COURT
Chris O'Connor
Chris O'Connor
@ChristopOConnor
Breaking news and a plea for journalists to cover: Covid ourbreak in Multnomah County Jail among corrections officers bad enough that attorneys were not able to call clients last night. Not enough people to work the phone system or let detainees access phones.

The jail situation here has been frightening & I suspect people don't know about the outbreaks, quarrantine rules & even how that has slown down court in the past few weeks. If we can't talk to our in-custody clients by phone, they won't bring them to court, things get backed up.

The sheriff brings people from the 2 jails to the courthouse for hearings. For some reason they won't just get some ipads and let prisoners zoom in from the jail. Meanwhile belly chains on some prisoners mean poor ability to adjust a droopy mask so lots of noses are exposed.

Some judges are just appearing by video chat, which suggests their real thoughts on the matter.

I will always remember one particular scene: standing next to a belly-chained client (and the deputy and the clerk), with his mask down around his chin as he talked in delusional pressured speech loudly over the disemdied voice of the judge and DA who both appeared on a large tv.
COURT
Advertisement
J.B. White
J.B. White
@RattlerGator
1 of 55

Today I will not be sharing what are primarily my thoughts on the United States Supreme Court’s dereliction of duty to the American people.

2 of 55

Instead, I’ll be sharing the words of Myron Magnet.

In a June 19, 2019 essay published in City Journal and linked in my next tweet, he did a magnificent job of walking the reader through an incredible years-long effort underway by Justice Thomas.

3 of 55

Tomorrow I will show how all of this imperial judiciary nonsense fits into the Section 230 fiasco that has allowed wrongdoers to brazenly impair out constitutional rights.

For now, here is the link to Myron Magnet’s brilliant

4 of 55

But what was, what is, that years-long effort by Justice Thomas?

Anyone who has been following the trajectory of Justice Thomas surely knows already: to return the foundational focus of our Supreme Court to the Constitution . . . as written.

5 of 55

Let me now begin my series of quotes and paraphrases mixed in with my minimal comments. Magnet’s article was written in the wake of Gamble v. United States, a case that involved the question of double jeopardy.
COURT
Arieh Kovler
Arieh Kovler
@ariehkovler
There won't be a rerun of Jan 6. The riot at the Capitol was unique in many ways: Trump called for it; it was the last chance to "overturn" the election; it was huge in scale.


The coming Trumpist events on Jan 17 and Jan 20 will probably be much smaller in scale, especially in DC. The MAGA crew can't buy another flight and take more days off work so soon after Jan 6.

Some of the Trumpist forums are actively suspicious of these events, claiming they're FBI or Antifa traps. A lot of people at TDW felt that the *design* of this flyer was too lefty to be real!


Unfortunately, that doesn't mean everything will be OK. The statehouse events on Jan 17 have the potential to turn violent, where a few hundred people could be enough to overwhelm local authorities.

MAGA anger at a lot of the GOP is high, as well as against Dems. Even red states could see problems, so I hope authorities are prepared.
COURT , POLITICS
FVCK \xa9\ufe0fommies\U0001f43a\U0001f347\U0001f347\U0001f347
FVCK ©️ommies🐺🍇🍇🍇...
@fvckcommies
Neckbrace is planning on attacking the supposed federal vehicles that she was posting about last night


More tweets about going after the feds


She also talked about going to Ted Wheelers new house


@DHSgov @ICEgov

And now she is talking about going after @stillgray and @MrAndyNgo
COURT

You May Also Like

Anu Satheesh \U0001f1ee\U0001f1f3
Anu Satheesh 🇮🇳...
@AnuSatheesh5
Yoga Ramar Temple
#Nedungunam
#TamilNaduTemples 🚩

Yoga Ramar Temple is located near Thiruvannamalai. Shri Rama is seated with eyes closed, without any weapons. Mata Sita  pointing to the feet of Rama telling that  everyone is safe at his feet. Lakshmana standing near Shri Rama


Hanuman is seen chanting Vedas obediently sitting before Shri Rama.

Sthala Puranam says that, Sukabrahma Maharishi had been doing Tapasya here, for the darshan of Sri Rama. Prabhu Shri Ram, pleased with his tapasya, came here after Rama Ravana yudham. Since Rama was returning


after the war, he did not have any weapons with him.

Another gopuram called Kili Gopuram is there for Sukabrahma Maharishi. There is a hill nearby called Dheergachala. According to Sthala puranam, Sri Padham of Prabhu Rama are found on the top of the hill


It is said that this is the place where Shri Rama gave darshan to Suka Maharishi. Nedumgunam means which shows all qualities of Shri Rama who is Maryadha purushottam. Shri Ramanavami is very famous here.

Jai Sri Ram
🙏🕉🙏
ALL
Adam McKay
Adam McKay
@GhostPanther
1) My Stan Lee story happened when I was in 5th grade. I was visiting NYC with my Dad and had read the address for Marvel in the comics I read constantly. I begged my Dad to take me and to his credit he did. And guess what? It was just an office.

2) We were down in the lobby and I was kind of crushed. I don’t know what I expected, The Thing and the Yancy Street Gang to be sitting around smoking cigars? Anyway, my Dad was taking a beat to figure where we were going next and a guy came up to us.

3) He was wearing a white shirt and tie and said to Dad “Is he disappointed because. The Marvel offices were just offices?” My Dad said yes and then the guy who had gray around his temples and a mustache said “hold on a second” and opened one of those office mailboxes with a key.

4) He then handed me a thick stack of EVERY SINGLE MARVEL COMIC COMING OUT THE NEXT MONTH. “Here you go. Keep reading Marvel comics” he said and then walked off. I left in a daze and about 15 minutes later it hit me “Gray around the temples, mustache... That was Stan Lee!”

5) Later when I wrote on the Ant Man movie I told Kevin Feige the story, the year, look of the guy etc and Kevin said “That’s exactly the kind of thing Stan would do and he would have been there then. That was him.” Rest In Peace Stan Lee and thank you for the comics.
CULTURE
Advertisement
Sumit Grrg
Sumit Grrg
@sumitgrrg
These 10 threads will teach you more than reading 100 books

Five billionaires share their top lessons on startups, life and entrepreneurship (1/10)


10 competitive advantages that will trump talent (2/10)


Some harsh truths you probably don’t want to hear (3/10)


10 significant lies you’re told about the world (4/10)
ALL , MOTIVATION , BOOKS
Paras Chopra
Paras Chopra
@paraschopra
1/ Here are my notes from @robertwrighter's book - Nonzero: the logic of human destiny. I enjoyed the book very much.

The basic premise of the book is that history has a direction which favors co-operation and non-zero sum games, and that causes an increase in complexity.


2/ Starting from the first replicating molecule which co-operated with an outer layer to form first proto-cell, evolutionary and cultural history is full of examples where two entities come together to survive and progress a lot more than they would have done individually.

3/ This co-operative entity fares much better than two individual entities because of specialization. If two entities are in the same boat - that they win together or lose together - then trust is implicit.

4/ In a non-zero sum game, trust causes entities to focus on what they do best.

For example, eukaryotic cells - the ones animals and plants have - emerged when two proto-cells merged, and one took the role of energy generator (mitochondria), the other specialized in protection.

5/ Some scientists believe that even nucleus in a cell is a result of an early cell merging with another cell.

So M&A is not a recent phenomena, entities have been merging because of common interests ever since life started.
CULTURE
Ethan \U0001f468\u200d\U0001f3a4
Ethan 👨‍🎤...
@Booligoosh
First update to https://t.co/lDdqjtKTZL since the challenge ended – Medium links!! Go add your Medium profile now 👀📝 (thanks @diannamallen for the suggestion 😁)


Just added Telegram links to https://t.co/lDdqjtKTZL too! Now you can provide a nice easy way for people to message you :)


Less than 1 hour since I started adding stuff to https://t.co/lDdqjtKTZL again, and profile pages are now responsive!!! 🥳 Check it out -> https://t.co/fVkEL4fu0L


Accounts page is now also responsive!! 📱✨


💪 I managed to make the whole site responsive in about an hour. On my roadmap I had it down as 4-5 hours!!! 🤘🤠🤘
MAKERS