At 1:30 p.m. this Wednesday, June 15th, in the Thomas Eagleton Federal Courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri, an appeal will be argued before three judges on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in one of the most bitterly contested and controversial criminal trials in many years.
The appeal—United States v. Sholom Rubashkin—involves Rubashkin’s conviction of multiple counts of bank fraud, for which he was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment. His trial followed the 2008 raid—the biggest in U.S. history—by more than 600 federal Immigration and Customs agents (ICE) on Rubashkin’s kosher meat-packing plant in Postville, Iowa and the arrest of 389 undocumented workers, mostly Mexican. Rubashkin was arrested for immigration-related crimes, but re-arrested and tried on the financial crimes. Whether Rubashkin is guilty and deserves the astonishingly harsh sentence are pertinent issues that will be argued on his appeal. But just as pertinent—maybe more so—is the conduct of the judges, trial and appellate, called upon to administer justice in his case.
READ MORE: HUFFINGTON POST
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6 Responses
May Hashem have mercy on Sholom Mordechai and set him free at last.
Hatzlacha! May he be an inspiration to prisoners from OUTSIDE of prison b’Karov!!!
May H”B have mercy and may his sentence be commuted to time served and he can go home a free man.
It is significant that this appeared in the leftist leaning HuffingtonPost. Reagan and the two Bush’s packed the federal courts with Lock ‘Em Up and Throw Away The Key judges, and Linda Reade was one of them. Unfortunately, Bill Clinton did not attempt to counter that trend during his 8 years in office, and Barack Obama has not been able to get many judicial appointees confirmed because of Republican delaying tactics. It will likely take several more Democratic administrations to put some balance back into the federal courts.
Have we as a Jewish people looked inward to see why Hashem turned his face and permitted the secular justice to have Sholom Rubashkin in its grasp?
One Rav told me it is because we have used the secular courts against fellow Jews instead of going to Baatei Din. Whether it be individuals or organizations, suing fellow Jews in secular courts or even threatening to do so with lawyers’ letters is an extremely serious breach of the Torah. We need to resolve that we will use Baatei Din and follow their decisions. Perhaps then Hashem will have rachmonos on Reb Sholom and deliver him from the secular justice system.
charlie being charlie