Scott Walker's John Doe Case Stopped AGAIN !!! - At Least They Can't Destroy The Evidence... I Think

[WillyT]

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa issued the decision less than a day after the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago stayed an earlier ruling ending the secret "John Doe" investigation.

The appeals court said Randa erred in not first deciding whether the emergency appeal — in which prosecutors argued they had sovereign immunity from being sued in their official capacity — was frivolous.

In his ruling Thursday, Randa wrote that he was "absolutely convinced that the defendants' attempt to appeal this issue is a frivolous effort to deprive the court of its jurisdiction to enter an injunction."

And...

That ruling also ordered the prosecutors to return all of the evidence collected and to permanently destroy all copies of it. The court of appeals Wednesday overruled Randa on that portion of his order, which Randa acknowledged in his latest decision Thursday.

"Obviously, the defendants are not required to comply with the 'return-and-destroy' aspect of the Court's injunction, as explained in the Seventh Circuit's order," Randa wrote

And...

"The Seventh Circuit identified a technical oversight, and Judge Randa's revised injunction order corrects it," Rivkin said in a statement. "We are confident that this injunction will remain in place because, as Judge Randa found, the John Doe probe is an abuse of government power to target private citizens for exercising their free speech rights."

Check back for further details as this story develops.

From: http://journaltimes.com/news/local/state-and-regional/2c81e982-bc1f-59f0-b1b4-0350591eb6aa.html

[GeorgeGist]

1. HALF-LOAF

Like a bat outta hell.

[leftyohiolib]

2. they dont have to destroy the evidence

[Gothmog]

3. The 7th Circuit will have another crack at this ruling

The 7th Cir. has reversed this judge before in another political case

The appeals panel consists of Judges Diane Wood, William Bauer and Frank Easterbrook. Wood is the court's chief judge and was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1995; Easterbrook was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985; and Bauer was appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1974. Both Easterbrook and Bauer are former chief judges.

The same three appellate judges seven years ago reversed Randa in another criminal case with strong political overtones.

In April 2007, the panel ruled that state purchasing supervisor Georgia Thompson was wrongly convicted of making sure a state travel contract went to a firm linked to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's re-election campaign.

In that case, in which Randa sentenced Thompson to 18 months in prison, Wood called the evidence used to convict Thompson "beyond thin." The panel acted with unusual speed, ordering Thompson's immediate release from prison.

Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/federal-judge-stops-doe-probe-for-second-time-b99265560z1-258474841.html#ixzz319igJm8C

[AleksS]

4. Yes, wasn't that just the "emergency" part of the appeal?

Yes, wasn't that just the "emergency" part of the appeal? (I thought the defendants filed an emergency appeal specifically to stop the return-and-destroy portion of Randa's ruling, and are filing a "normal" appeal to deal with the rest?)

Won't the panel consider the entire appeal in a less hasty fashion?

[nykym]

5. If the John Doe innvestigation was started

before those horrendous Supreme Court Hallucinations.
couldn't they cite that to preserve the investigation.