Jailed Mich. militia members could be released

[tomm2thumbs]

Source: AP/Yahoo

Nine jailed militia members accused of conspiring to overthrow the U.S. government have won the latest round in the fight over whether they will be freed while they wait for trial. In a ruling late Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts said she would not further suspend her Monday order that releases the militia members with strict conditions, including electronic monitoring and curfews.

..snip..

"Defendants are presumed innocent of all charges against them. ... This presumption of innocence is part and parcel of why, 'In our society liberty is the norm, and detention prior to trial or without trial is the carefully limited exception,'" Roberts wrote, quoting a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court decision. The members of the southern Michigan militia, called Hutaree, are charged with conspiracy to commit sedition, or rebellion, against the government and the attempted use of weapons of mass destruction. They have been in custody without bond since late March.

Authorities, citing secretly recorded conversations, say the group planned to kill a police officer and bomb the subsequent funeral. Defense attorneys say it was nothing more than hateful talk.
Prosecutors claim the suspects are too dangerous to be released from jail. But Roberts has set many restrictions and appointed third-party custodians, mostly family members, to keep watch.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100506/ap_on_re_us/us_fbi_raids_militia

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Ruling came late Wednesday, AP reported 3:17 am ET

[mrs_p]

1. this is so confusing

i thought alleged terrorists don't get out on bail. plus,

:shrug:

[varelse]

2. Let me guess...

they are white and "christian", right?

[slackmaster]

8. Maybe you should take your wild-assed guess and format it into a complaint to Judge Roberts

...Hon. Victoria A. Roberts of Detroit is currently a federal judge for the Eastern District of Michigan and served as the 62nd president of the State Bar of Michigan. Her strong leadership in voluntary legal services to the poor and dedication to pro bono and public service initiatives earned her nomination by the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association. During her State Bar presidency, she appointed the State Bar Task Force on Racial/Ethnic and Gender Issues in the Courts and Legal Profession and implemented the State Bar's first "Access to Justice for All Hotline" for the public during the State Bar's Annual Meeting....

http://www.michbar.org/news/releases/archives99/9_10e_99.cfm

Maybe, just maybe Judge Roberts decided that the government doesn't have much of a case.

This thread will now sink like a rock, without anyone admitting they've made an inaccurate knee-jerk assumption.

[saigon68]

12. Thanks Slack some of us knew that

Hon. Victoria A. Roberts was appointed by President William Jefferson Clinton in 1998 with the unanimous advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.

[varelse]

16. So... they're not white "christians"

woops, my bad...

:eyes:

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Odin2005]

3. Yet if they were muslims with brown skin they would be being waterboarded.

[slackmaster]

7. The "White Privilege" Canard. One more time - Here is some information about the judge in the case.

...Hon. Victoria A. Roberts of Detroit is currently a federal judge for the Eastern District of Michigan and served as the 62nd president of the State Bar of Michigan. Her strong leadership in voluntary legal services to the poor and dedication to pro bono and public service initiatives earned her nomination by the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association. During her State Bar presidency, she appointed the State Bar Task Force on Racial/Ethnic and Gender Issues in the Courts and Legal Profession and implemented the State Bar's first "Access to Justice for All Hotline" for the public during the State Bar's Annual Meeting....

http://www.michbar.org/news/releases/archives99/9_10e_99.cfm

I think that makes four threads shot down by this information in the last three days.

[sabrina 1]

10. I agree with the judge's ruling, I also disagreed with

permanent detention of Muslims without access to the justice system, with no chance of bail or public trial. For stating that many times, I was attacked by both left and right. Right when Bush was president, left when Obama took over.

The question is, will there be a huge outcry over her decision since these defendents are NOT Muslims? Her statements are correct, she is abiding by the rule of law. But if these people were Muslims, Fox, Limbaugh et al would be all over this judge, calling her a 'Liberal making law from the bench'. Now, let's see if the reaction is the same for these defendents.

The problem isn't whether the judge is black or white. The problem is the disparity between the way the public will react to Muslims plotting these kinds of acts and how they will react to White Christians being released. We'll see.

[slackmaster]

11. Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I pretty much agree with everything you wrote.

:hi:

[Alcibiades]

4. Just look at what they are accused of

You can plot to kill a cop and his mourners and still get bail?

[onehandle]

5. These restrictions better include not getting their guns and bomb making materials back.

Or are gun groups pleading their case already?

[slackmaster]

9. Federal law prohibits anyone who is under indictment for a felony from having a gun

But of course you didn't know that, because you have NEVER bothered to learn anything about the law.

[onehandle]

14. Hey, guns laws are being loosened daily.

Some people want to be able to 'march' with guns right up to the White House and Capitol.

[boycottfaux]

6. Where is Faux??

How come faux isn't using their airwaves to urge these militia
'terrorists' be tried in military court?

[crickets]

[Xenotime]

18. If it has anything to do with guns, they love them.

[tencats]

13. Federal appeals court has stopped the release of nine jailed Michigan militia members

May 6, 2010 10:48 AM
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati issued an emergency stay Thursday morning.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/05/judge-to-let-michigan-militia-members-free-on-bail.html

[tomm2thumbs]

15. thanks for the update

I guess the Court of Appeals went with the 'detention prior to trial or without trial is the carefully limited exception' part of her ruling.