Eminent Domain Stuff
New London Update (2/24/06)
Bad NLDC!
Coverage of the Rally at New London's City Hall (w/ pics)
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Oh The Great American Legal System
Here is a story that I find disturbing for a number of reasons (hat tip: Insults Unpunished). The short story is that John Rapanos decided to place sand on ground that the government says is a wetland. I'll just mention on of the the most bothering points here:
At the sentencing, Judge Zatkoff, who had just sentenced an illegal immigrant on narcotics charges, made clear his disgust with the Rapanos prosecution. "So here we have a person who comes to the United States and commits crimes of selling dope and the government asks me to put him in prison for 10 months," he said.
"And then we have an American citizen who buys land, pays for it with his own money, and he moves some sand from one end to the other and government wants me to give him 63 months in prison. Now, if that isn't our system gone crazy, I don't know what is. And I am not going to do it." A three-judge appellate panel unanimously reversed Judge Zatkoff and ordered him to sentence Mr. Rapanos to prison.
Totally aside from the fact that Mr. Rapanos (and many, many others) is being told what he can and cannot do with his private land, we've got a legal system that punishes his violation more harshly than some selling drugs. Amazing and sickening all at once.
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Here is a story that I find disturbing for a number of reasons (hat tip: Insults Unpunished). The short story is that John Rapanos decided to place sand on ground that the government says is a wetland. I'll just mention on of the the most bothering points here:
At the sentencing, Judge Zatkoff, who had just sentenced an illegal immigrant on narcotics charges, made clear his disgust with the Rapanos prosecution. "So here we have a person who comes to the United States and commits crimes of selling dope and the government asks me to put him in prison for 10 months," he said.
"And then we have an American citizen who buys land, pays for it with his own money, and he moves some sand from one end to the other and government wants me to give him 63 months in prison. Now, if that isn't our system gone crazy, I don't know what is. And I am not going to do it." A three-judge appellate panel unanimously reversed Judge Zatkoff and ordered him to sentence Mr. Rapanos to prison.
Totally aside from the fact that Mr. Rapanos (and many, many others) is being told what he can and cannot do with his private land, we've got a legal system that punishes his violation more harshly than some selling drugs. Amazing and sickening all at once.
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