Judge Jamel Semper Mostly Denies LaMonica McIver's Bid to Dismiss Prosecution - emptywheel

"Given the precedent, Semper's ruling on the selective and vindictive prosecution claim is not surprising. What is surprising, however, is the presumption of regularity Judge Semper affords DOJ (and ICE) even after he has had to order DOJ to whack-a-mole remove all the false statements Tricia McLaughlin keeps posting about McIver. He makes no mention, for example, of the evidence showing Todd Blanche ordered Ras Baraka be arrested even though he was no longer on Delaney Hall property."

"The case law does not support Defendant's broad interpretation. The Third Circuit's holding in Lee is instructive, where the court declined to find that the entirety of a legislator's fact-finding trip was protected by the Speech or Debate Clause. See 775 F.2d at 522. There, a legislator from the Virgin Islands argued that the conversations and meetings that took place during a trip he took to New York and Washington, D.C. were entitled to immunity"

Judge Jamel Semper denied most of LaMonica McIver's motions to dismiss, rejecting selective and vindictive prosecution claims and refusing expanded discovery. The court dismissed legislative immunity on two of three counts while the government concedes the Delaney Hall inspection itself was legislative. The judge afforded a presumption of regularity to DOJ and ICE despite previously ordering DOJ to remove false public statements about McIver. The opinion does not address alleged evidence that Todd Blanche ordered Ras Baraka's arrest off Delaney Hall property. The judge relied on Third Circuit precedent narrowing Speech or Debate Clause protections for fact-finding trips.

Read at emptywheel