Posted on 02/07/2011 1:17:59 PM PST by La Lydia
Sending dozens of illegal immigrants to jail for using stolen identities to work is a “travesty,” according to the Clinton-appointed federal judge who reluctantly approved the plea agreements of Mexican and Guatemalan employees arrested during a raid at an Iowa meatpacking plant. The 2008 case received national media coverage because hundreds of suspected illegal aliens were apprehended during a massive federal raid at the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant, Agriprocessing Co. Many used fake identities and stolen Social Security numbers to work at the facility in the northeast Iowa community of Postville and dozens were criminally charged.
Now the judge who presided over the case, Mark Bennett, is publicly chastising prosecutors for pressuring the illegal immigrants into agreeing to five-month prison sentences by pleading guilty to misdemeanors. Appearing in the documentary (Abused: The Postville Raid) of a leftwing Guatemalan “filmmaker,” Bennett calls the legal proceedings a “travesty” that made him “embarrassed” to be a United States District Court judge.
The film depicts the law breakers as victims who were left “humiliated” and whose families were “torn apart” by the evil U.S. government. It also asserts that, as a result of the federal immigration raid, a small Iowa community of “great diversity was left in ruin” because many of the “undocumented workers” got deported.
The judge’s comments in the film were first reported by a Des Moines newspaper that says he only sentenced 57 of the 389 arrested in the raid. Never the less, Bennett found the plea agreements to be “personally and professionally offensive” as well as a “tragedy.” He also said the illegal immigrants deserved “mercy” and “compassion” because they didn’t have criminal histories.
Many Americans probably thought the illegal immigrants got off way too easy. After all, they were charged with using false identification documents to obtain employment, using fake or stolen Social Security numbers and unlawful entry into the United States. Those whose identities were stolen likely thought the five-month sentence was indeed a “travesty.”
A federal judge with such attitudes should not be on the bench. He should be impeached if possible, but that would take a Congress with some appreciation for the rule of law, including immigration law and other laws that illegals routinely violate.
Some days it seems like that.
JACKASS!
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Jailing Illegal Aliens For ID Theft A “Travesty,” Judge Says
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In-Freakin’-Credible!
But not suprising, given the many warped minds that are graduated
each year from our law schools.
>Tell me, if identity theft (one of the fastest growing crimes in the country) shouldn’t be punished, then what is an enforceable law?
Considering he’s a federal judge I predict his answer is “taking a weapon into a federal building.”
[/bitter][/sarc]
Would my arrest be as much a travesty if I stole the judge’s ID?
OK, let’s all pile into this creep’s house and steal everything. He said theft is no issue for the courts.
Nope. it would be a travesty only if you were a wetback and stole a peon’s i.d.
I think it would be much more fun for some for someone to steal his identity and get a new drivers license, etc. using his docs. Maybe file an unemployment claim, since the guy is worse than worthless.
I wonder if his "honor" thinks it's a "travesty" to punish a burglar who, in addition to all the other crimes they committed, stole the identities of his victims?
No Way, Jose (No Se Puede!) by 10 Pound Test
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Even the so called hard working illegals are law breakers by default of sneaking across the border all the way to the child rapist who is almost always let off lightly.
When do we plan on taking this stuff seriously?
I've said it before, it just doesn't pay to be an American citizen anymore.
Well guess what? I'm embarrassed that he's a judge too. This diptard has no business on the bench.
Right you are. However, I believe it is the Congress that determines limits to judicial appointments. So how about the Tea Party opening a new front, one that would limit federal judicial appointments to 10-12 years rather than lifetime appointments?
We could easily make them elective ~ all it takes is a Constitutional Amendment.
Not Congress. The Constitution. You’d need an amendment.
"Thanks for sharing your opinion with me..even thought you no very little about the facts. Is there a name or are you so gutless you need to hide behind a fake one..and buy the way I did enforce the law even thought I disagreed with it and the US Supreme court ultimately agreed with me .."
Mark_Bennett@iand.uscourts.gov
Best regards . . . Penny
And when will the do nothing republicans start the process to move this pos from the bench.
someone ask that pathetic excuse for a judge what his organization’s policy is on loss of PII (personnaly identifiable information).
Mark Bennett should go to Mexico or Venezuela or wherever it is he believes he can uphold the law without feeling embarrassed. The Traitor doesn’t belong here.
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