Delay's threats are a FEDERAL CRIMINAL VIOLATION OF US CODE!!!!

[Beetwasher]

The Honorable Sen. Lautenberg wrote him a letter about it:

--snip--

You should be aware that your comments yesterday may violate a Federal criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. §115 (a)(1)(B). That law states:

“Whoever threatens to assault…. or murder, a United States judge… with intent to retaliate against such… judge…. on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished (by up to six years in prison)”

--snip--

IMO, there's no "may" about the violation.

The rest here:

http://rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/lautenberg_letter_delay_schiavo_401.htm

[toymachines]

1. HA

dam straight, Delay should go to prison for that.

[ObaMania]

3. Hey...

.. people have gone to jail for less! 'Course the teflon exterminator will get off scot free for this one!

[paineinthearse]

5. Who will prosecute??? Who will impeach???

The rethugs control the Justice Department and the House Judiciary Committee.

[Just Me]

2. There's prolly also a state law prohibiting threats against judges.

Wish someone would criminally charge Delay. That would really chaff his butt!

[Beetwasher]

4. Isn't The TX State AG A Dem?

And he's the one going after Delay on all the ethics violations and fundraising shennanigans...I would think this thread would be right up his alley...

[Just Me]

7. Well, it's a FL judge he threatened. So, TX AG has no jurisdiction. n/t

[Beetwasher]

8. Even If He Was In TX When He Made The Threat?

:shrug:

Where was he when he made the threat? Would that matter? (obviously not a lawer!) ;-)

[paineinthearse]

13. Yes

Charges for a federal crime are brought by federal prosecutors.

If AG Gonzales is unwilling to pursue, the only recorse Lautenberg has is to call for a special prosecutor.

And, come to think of it, wouldn't Gonzales be guilty of obstruction of justice if he does not act?

[Beetwasher]

15. Duh! Of Course!

*smacking forehead* Federal Violation=Federal prosecutor. I should've known that at least, oh well! Thanks!

For some reason I wouldn't hold out hope for Gonzalez to act, or if he did, for it to go anywhere...One can only hope though that this bit of idiocy is another can of gas on the bonfire that is Delay...

Though you did mention that states may have laws against this, so maybe a state prosecutor in the state he was IN can prosecute? Where was he when he made the threat? I guess that's sorta where I was getting at originally...

[tabasco]

48. Not necessarily.

State courts routinely prosecute violations of federal law. Federal law is the law of the States, and state courts do have the jurisdiction to prosecute federal violations.

[Nevilledog]

21. Your name......

... every time I see you post I see your name as "Paint the Hearse". Maybe I do belong to a culture of death....hehehe.

[paineinthearse]

6. Breaking news!!! DeLay introduces legislation to vacate 18 U.S.C. §115

April Fool.

[tubbacheez]

9. Anyone wanna start an online petition?

Like the freeper petition to impeach Judge Greer?

LOL :)

[paineinthearse]

10. Message sent to my DNC contacts

"Hope the DNC acts on this and calls for special investigator." with a link to the raw story article.

[Not_Giving_Up]

11. Cool

Anything this Texas chick can do, let me know. I'd give a kidney if it would get him out of there.

[paineinthearse]

16. Send a copy of the letter to your the Texas Dem Congressional delegation

Ask them to endorse.

[Not_Giving_Up]

23. Will do!

Anything I can do to get him out!!!!


I voted for Morrison!

[PATRICK]

12. Helms threatening Clinton

was verbally a little more prudent, warning him that guns would be waiting for him down South.

Delay must be continually hammered and nailed on the Ethics issue until he is squeaking inside some cowardly rathole far away from the cheese.

The assault on the judiciary must be faced down, head on, as the assaults on legislatures and the executive should have been as well.

This must be a wedge against the appointment of ALL GOp nominations coming from the House. The well is poisoned.

[G_j]

28. yes, Helms got away with it

that was a clear threat of violence to Clinton if he dared come to NC.

[tridim]

36. Ironically, even if he did visit NC he'd probably be greeted

as a rock star, like he is everywhere else. In general America loves Clinton. Even the south.

[malmapus]

39. It was even insulting to military folks at the time

Helms told him not to visit military posts in NC if he cared about his safety, I remember cause I was stationed at Ft. Bragg at the time and my parents asked me what I thought about that after he said it, I thought it was just the words of a senile old coot heh...

[paineinthearse]

14. Wouldn't Gonzales be guilty of obstruction of justice if fails to act?

Just asking.

[mattclearing]

17. Arrest this man!!!!

[ThoughtCriminal]

18. "Threat" is too vague to prosecute

Realistically, I doubt that “The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.”, could be proven to be a threat of violence. There's too much plausible deniabilty.

[madrchsod]

20. if you or i said that in a nation wide

public forum and did not retract that statement immediately we would have federal agents at our door. delay can say what ever he wants because he is above the law.

[ThoughtCriminal]

24. Well I'm not going to try it

But I see and hear similar comments frequently made by many people on all sides. Isn't there anyone here that hasn't at some time said that Bush will be held accountable? How would we react if a comment like that was interpreted to be a threat of violence?

[Kber]

35. No need to retract - just clarify

that he meant "in the next world" or something and he'd be okey dokey. Failure to clarify that he meant God would judge and we humans shouldn't take matters into our own hands, well, that could easily lead to the impression that he does, in fact, favor such vigilante action.

[DesEtoiles]

19. Contact DeLay here:

May want to send him a copy of this?

Congressman Tom DeLay

Majority Leader Office
H-107 The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
p. [phone]
f.  [phone]

Congressional Office
242 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
p. [phone] 
f.  [phone]

District Office
10701 Corporate Drive ,Suite 118
Stafford, TX 77477
p. [phone]
f.  [phone]

http://www.majorityleader.gov/CONTACT.ASP?a=form

[DoYouEverWonder]

40. I called the DC office yesterday

talk about rude. The gal rather quickly dumped me into voice mail hell, where of course Delay's mail box was full. At least the gal in TX let me have my say.

[alfredo]

22. Pass it on.

I will.

[Beetwasher]

25. .

.

[seabeyond]

26. he just breaks the laws all over the place n/t

[GarySeven]

27. EVERYONE should e-mail the U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C.

And demand that a grand jury be impaneled immediately to consider the indictment of Delay on charges of conspiracy to assassinate federal judges.

[yurbud]

31. contact info?

[paineinthearse]

37. If you suggest we do that

Please provide the contact information.

thank you

[FreedomAngel82]

29. If I was that guy

I wouldn't have warned him. I would've worked silently to get rid of him. And yes DeLay did threaten the judges so therefore he should go "bye bye."

[jackstraw45]

30. Hmm...based on this, Bush will appoint Delay as new VP (post Cheney)

Wolfowitz=World Bank head
Condie=SOS

Delay=????

[senseandsensibility]

32. kick!

;-) Keep kicked, and thanks for playing offense, Senator!

[katinmn]

33. Another thread here. Did not recognize the Lautenberg letter in yours

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3402903&mesg_id=3402903

[in_cog_ni_to]

34. US Code? Why would Delay care about violating

a Federal Law? There are NO repercussions for these people. NONE.

[Beetwasher]

38. .

.

[Q]

41. Worth reading the entire letter:

April 1, 2005


Tom DeLay
Majority Leader
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515


Dear Majority Leader DeLay,


I was stunned to read the threatening comments you made yesterday against Federal judges and our nation’s courts of law in general. In reference to certain Federal judges, you stated: “The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.”


As you are surely aware, the family of Federal Judge Joan H. Lefkow of Illinois was recently murdered in their home. And at the state level, Judge Rowland W. Barnes and others in his courtroom were gunned down in Georgia.


Our nation’s judges must be concerned for their safety and security when they are asked to make difficult decisions every day. That’s why comments like those you made are not only irresponsible, but downright dangerous. To make matters worse, is it appropriate to make threats directed at specific Federal and state judges?


You should be aware that your comments yesterday may violate a Federal criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. §115 (a)(1)(B). That law states:


“Whoever threatens to assault…. or murder, a United States judge… with intent to retaliate against such… judge…. on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished ”


Threats against specific Federal judges are not only a serious crime, but also beneath a Member of Congress. In my view, the true measure of democracy is how it dispenses justice. Your attempt to intimidate judges in America not only threatens our courts, but our fundamental democracy as well.


Federal judges, as well as state and local judges in our nation, are honorable public servants who make difficult decisions every day. You owe them – and all Americans – an apology for your reckless statements.


Sincerely,


Frank R. Lautenberg

[autorank]

42. I love Lautenberg, a genuinely intelligent, clever, and very tough guy.

He's succeeded at everything he's done and these are the reasons why. Good for him, put this DeLay guy on notice, you're cruising for an inditement when we take control. The statute of limitations on this would be interesting. I pray that no one is hurt as a result of the DeLay insanity. If someone is, it will fall on Bush and DeLay for pandering to lunatics (yes, there is only one side of this issue sanity).

You go Frank

NEW LEADERS FOR A NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

[Jesus Saves]

43. Delay's a fool and his comments were out of line but

they weren't specific enough to rise to criminality. All he'd have to say is that he was talking about the afterlife.

The way to go after him on this is politically.

[Vinca]

44. You must be misinformed.

Laws do not apply to Mr. Delay.

[zara]

45. Unfortunately, not that clear...

to establish his criminal intent.
Though we all know the evil in his heart.

[adwon]

46. Cute

I applaud Lautenberg for sending the letter, but he's got to know it's a red herring.

Assault requires specificity and immediacy. A federal charge for assault on a judge would part of a general assault charge. It is not a freestanding charge.

Nonetheless, I do like the idea of shutting that idiot Delay up. I hope he's too dumb to realize that Lautenberg's having fun at his expense.

[paineinthearse]

47. quick and easy guide to DeLaygate

For a quick and easy guide to DeLaygate, see http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1700624