Lately, it seems, the Fed's are taking over the role of State of Nevada prosecutors in trying some criminals cases.
I first really noticed it in the Father Kevin McAuliffe case where he stole $650,000 from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church to pay for his gambling addictions. McAuliffe stole money from the church donations including collections, candles and the gift shop. Hardly a federal case.
Then I noticed a few violent criminal cases being tried in Federal court here in Las Vegas and then there is this case:
From the LVRJ: A Las Vegas man was sentenced to a little more than 19 years in
federal prison Thursday for his role in a series of armed convenience
store robberies in 2010.
Raymond Juarez, 22, who led a life of
crime as a gang associate while growing up, also was ordered to serve
five years of supervised release after he gets out of prison.
Juarez
and two other men, Jose Figueroa and Chase Sitton, were charged in six
robberies that occurred between November and December 2010. In one of
the robberies, a convenience store clerk was shot in the stomach.
All three men pleaded guilty to the crimes earlier this year. Figueroa and Sitton are to be sentenced in August.
On
Thursday, Juarez's family members openly wept in court, as Senior U.S.
District Judge Roger Hunt told the defendant he was facing 230 months in
prison. Juarez, in jail garb and chains, appeared to wipe away tears. http://www.lvrj.com/news/las-vegas-man-sentenced-in-store-robberies-159096375.html
While the LVRJ did not say exactly what the thug defendant was charged with, it seems that in the past, say 2-3 years ago, it would have been in State of Nevada criminal courts.
So, why is the Clark County DA's office giving up on trying cases and then punting them to the Federal courts? Save money? Longer potential sentences? Overworked?
I realize the lawyer in this case, more than likely a Federal public defender. won't object because it's money for him. Federal public defenders get paid much more, generally than state public defenders: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_public_defender_salary
So, why are the Fed's doing this- especially in Nevada where we strongly believe in home rule.
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It's not that they are trying state criminal cases. It's just that there is no way to escape federal jurisdiction because of the perversion of the commerce clause. They have made so many federal laws that it is pretty much impossible to find ANY activity that a federal prosecutor cannot find some tenuous nexus to some federal crime.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the state is perfectly happy to let the feds spend the money.
Someday there will be a successful jurisdictional challenge and a judge who agrees and a successful appeal to the supreme court and things might change. At least for a while until the supreme court pulls the rug out a few years later.
Government is most powerful when the people don't really know what the rules are. That way they can change the rules and nobody puts up too much of a fight.
Thanks and nice points.
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