organization:united states district court

Prison inmates will soon be reading ebooks—but that’s not a good thing — Quartz
▻https://qz.com/1399330/prison-inmates-will-soon-be-reading-ebooks-but-thats-not-a-good-thing

https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/AP_18205022875668-e1532963797957.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1400

Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections announced that inmates would no longer be able to receive physical books from outside organizations or inmate’s families. Instead, the state’s prison system would be switching to ebooks. These will be available on tablets sold by prison telecommunications giant GTL.

The book ban was part of an announcement about security measures aimed at limiting contraband flowing into Pennsylvania’s prisons.

Moussaoui Calls Saudi Princes Patrons of Al Qaeda - NYTimes.com
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/us/zacarias-moussaoui-calls-saudi-princes-patrons-of-al-qaeda.html?rref=world/middleeast

WASHINGTON — In highly unusual testimony inside the federal supermax prison, a former operative for Al Qaeda has described prominent members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family as major donors to the terrorist network in the late 1990s and claimed that he discussed a plan to shoot down Air Force One with a Stinger missile with a staff member at the Saudi Embassy in Washington.

The Qaeda member, Zacarias Moussaoui, wrote last year to Judge George B. Daniels of United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, who is presiding over a lawsuit filed against Saudi Arabia by relatives of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He said he wanted to testify in the case, and after lengthy negotiations with Justice Department officials and the federal Bureau of Prisons, a team of lawyers was permitted to enter the prison and question him for two days last October.

Moussaoui Calls Saudi Princes Patrons of #Al_Qaeda
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/us/zacarias-moussaoui-calls-saudi-princes-patrons-of-al-qaeda.html

WASHINGTON — In highly unusual testimony inside the federal supermax prison, a former operative for Al Qaeda has described prominent members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family as major donors to the terrorist network in the late 1990s and claimed that he discussed a plan to shoot down Air Force One with a Stinger missile with a staff member at the Saudi Embassy in Washington.

The Qaeda member, Zacarias Moussaoui, wrote last year to Judge George B. Daniels of United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, who is presiding over a lawsuit filed against Saudi Arabia by relatives of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He said he wanted to testify in the case, and after lengthy negotiations with Justice Department officials and the federal Bureau of Prisons, a team of lawyers was permitted to enter the prison and question him for two days last October.

#Saoud #Arabie_Saoudite

Judge Challenges White House Claims on Authority in #Drone Killings - NYTimes.com
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/20/us/politics/judge-challenges-white-house-claims-on-authority-in-drone-killings.html

Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of the United States District Court here was hearing the government’s request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by relatives of three Americans killed in two drone strikes in Yemen in 2011: Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical cleric who had joined Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula; Mr. Awlaki’s 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman, who had no involvement in terrorism; and Samir Khan, a 30-year-old North Carolina man who had become a propagandist for the same Qaeda branch.

Judge Collyer said she was “troubled” by the government’s assertion that it could kill American citizens it designated as dangerous, with no role for courts to review the decision.

“Are you saying that a U.S. citizen targeted by the United States in a foreign country has no constitutional rights?” she asked Brian Hauck, a deputy assistant attorney general. “How broadly are you asserting the right of the United States to target an American citizen? Where is the limit to this?”

She provided her own answer: “The limit is the courthouse door.”

#justice

Jeff Reisig - District Attorney of Yolo County - Accused of Racketeering

In an almost unprecedented turn of events and somewhat ironically, a local official in the State of California who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses is now accused of criminal conduct.

Court documents filed with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia reveal that the highly controversial District Attorney of Yolo County Jeff Reisig is accused of violating the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

RICO is a federal law that authorizes a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows for the leaders of a syndicate to be held civilly liable for the crimes that they ordered others to commit or which they assisted in committing.

The lawsuit, filed as a civil-racketeering action by Marina Del Rey-based legal scholar Daniel Dydzak, alleges that Jeff Reisig and his deputies/investigators engaged in an “unlawful search and seizure” and that Mr. Reisig and State Bar of California employee Tom Layton (who according to sources is part of an ongoing “ambulance chasing” scheme the Girardi Syndicate operates in San Bernardino County vis-a-vis a satellite office located in San Bernardino and managed by Thomas Girardi’s son-in-law, David Lira) shared with third parties materials obtained during the search.

The suit further alleges that Reisig conspired to participate in a RICO enterprise, as well as participated in the commission of two or more racketeering activities acting as “accomplice.”

Indicted Aaron Swartz Hires Keker & Van Nest

Aaron Swartz, who faces up to 35 years in prison, recently hired San Francisco-based Keker & Van Nest to represent him, according to court documents filed with the United States District Court of Massachusetts.

Attorney Matthias Kammber of Keker & Van Nest informed the court that Swartz’s local attorney, Martin Weinberg, “will be withdrawing as counsel” and will be replaced by Cody Harris, Daniel Purcell, and top gun Elliot Peters, all of Keker & Van Nest.

Swartz, 25, is a fellow at Harvard University’s Safra Centre for Ethics and is charged with wire fraud, computer fraud, unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer, and recklessly damaging a protected computer. If convicted on these charges, Swartz faces up to 35 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, restitution, forfeiture and a fine of up to $1 million, according to a press release issued by United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz.

In various declarations submitted to the court, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen Heymann and Scott Garland alleged that Swartz — who is not a student, faculty member, or employee of MIT — gained physical access to MIT’s computer network through a laptop computer he installed in a restricted wiring closet in the basement of a research building, and that he intentionally masked his face with a bicycle helmet to avoid identification on a video camera as he entered the closet to remove the laptop; they also alleged that Swartz used fictitious names and manipulated computer identification information to get and maintain access to MIT’s computer network, and that he took repeated and affirmative steps to evade efforts by both MIT and JSTOR to lock him out of their computer networks.

In somewhat related news, Swartz and Larry Lessig, also of Harvard University’s Safra Centre for Ethics, are presently also being scrutinized as part of an ongoing non-criminal inquiry conducted by the author stemming from myriad suspicious financial transactions in connection with circumstances surrounding Chris Young (presently an attorney with Keker & Van Nest), defunct non-profit entity CaliforniaALL, Mitchell and Freada Kapor (a director of CaliforniaALL) of The Kapor Center, Bettina Neuefeind (wife of Larry Lessig), and two non-profit entities bearing the same name of “Democracy Fund,Inc.” — EIN 27-2439840 and EIN 26-3088283 — with connections to Lessig and Swartz.

Although other potential explanations certainly exist, as matters presently stand, it appears that in 2007-2008, Democratic party agents may have participated in what appears to be unexplained financial machinations relating to the California Bar Foundation and newly created non-profit entity CaliforniaALL with respect to funds originating from major utility companies and the California Bar Foundation, in order to promote the election of Barack Obama in general, and on behalf of those seeking to promote green energy in particular.

Specifically:

MORRISON & FOERSTER attorneys James Brosnahan (self-proclaimed “mastermind” behind the Democratic Party), Tony West (Barack Obama’s Chair of the California Finance Committee), Chris Young ("Obama for America" Northern California Deputy Finance Director), Annette Carnegie (2007-2008 director with the California Bar Foundation); Kamala Harris (co-chair, Obama for America and member of CaliforniaALL);

MUNGER TOLLES & OLSON attorneys Jeffrey Bleich (president of the State Bar of California, director of the California Bar Foundation, founding member and Chair of OBAMA FOR AMERICA’s National Finance Committee who pushed for the creation of CaliforniaALL, as well as for the appointment of director Freada Klein Kapor), Brad Phillips (2007- 2008 Director of the California Bar Foundation which served as a “financial sponsor” to CaliforniaALL on behalf of Verizon Wireless and Southern California Edison, both clients of Munger Tolles & Olson) (examination of the IRS 990 Verizon Wireless submitted to the IRS shows absolutely no payments to either CaliforniaALL or the California Bar Foundation);

WILSON SONSINI attorneys Mark Parnes (2007-2008 director and Secretary of the California Bar Foundation), John Roos (former CEO of Wilson Sonsini in Palo Alto; a personal friend of both President Obama and Jeffrey Bleich, currently serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan; similar to Ambassador Bleich, Ambassador Roos acted as a “bundler” and raised over $500,000 for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign);

DLA PIPER attorney Steven Churchwell in Sacramento (Treasurer, draft committee of OBAMA FOR AMERICA); firm where CaliforniaALL resided free of charge;

KAMALA HARRIS (co-chair, OBAMA FOR AMERICA ; member of CaliforniaALL); Harris is the sister of Maya Harris, who is married to Tony West, the chair of Barack Obama’s California Finance Committee who now serves as third in command within the United States Department of Justice below Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer;

CaliforniaALL Director OPHELIA BASGAL of the Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"): In around 2007-2008, Ms. Basgal was Vice President of Civic Partnership and Community Initiatives at PG&E, where she managed the company’s $18 million charitable contribution program, and oversaw its community engagement programs and partnerships with community-based organizations. Separately, around that time she also served as treasurer of the “California Supreme Court Historical Society.” In that role, she presumably had contact with many judges, including those who were handling matters dealing with PG&E, such as Justice (Ret.) Joseph Grodin who acted as the mediator in a case Attorney General Bill Lockyer advanced against PG&E, which Jerry Brown (cousin of Geoffrey Brown) later dismissed in his capacity as the new Attorney General for California;

LARRY LESSIG, FREADA KLEIN KAPOR, MITCHELL KAPOR, BETTINA NEUEFEIND, AARON SWARTZ: Around 2007-2008, Jeffrey Bleich caused the appointment of Freada Klein Kapor as Director of then newly-established CaliforniaALL. In a press release, the public was misled to believe that Freada Kapor is a diversity expert who operates an entity known as the Level Playing Field Institute. There was no mention that Freada Kapor is the owner of The Kapor Center, located at 543 Howard St., 5th. Floor, in San Francisco, which was used as telephone bank by volunteers of OBAMA FOR AMERICA, and received frequent visits from Bettina Neuefeind — wife of Larry Lessig — who served as the Office Manager of OBAMA FOR AMERICA in San Francisco.

Similarly, there was no mention, that tech-guru Mitchell Kapor — founder of Lotus 1-2-3 and the spouse of Freada Kapor, is part of OBAMA FOR AMERICA’s technical team.

Also located at The Kapor Center at 543 Howard St., 5th. Floor, in San Francisco were two newly created non-profit entities launched by Larry Lessig, Aaron Swartz, Joe Trippi, and Monica Walsh (a friend of Bettina) known as “Change Congress” and “Change V2 Foundation.”

Following the 2008 election of President Obama, Larry Lessig and his wife departed California. In 2010, Larry Lessig, Monica Walsh, and others launched a whole new Section 501(C) non-profit entity known as “Democracy Fund, Inc.”, EIN 27-2439840. On June 6, 2011, Larry Lessig, Monica Walsh, and others caused Change V2 Foundation (which was launched in 2008) to also operate under the name “Democracy Fund, Inc.” (EIN 26-3088283).

The case against Aaron Swartz is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen P. Heymann and Scott L. Garland of Ortiz’s Cybercrime Unit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. AARON SWARTZ Criminal No. 11-10260-NMG . Contact the author yoloanrabbi@gamil.com

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE JUDY JOHNSON ACCUSED OF EMBEZZLEMENT

A former employee of the State Bar of California — who California Governor Jerry Brown appointed to the Contra Costa County Superior Court bench under questionable circumstances involving his cousin, former California Public Utility Commissioner Geoffrey Brown — is accused in federal court of committing myriad financial crimes and acts of fraud.

Documents filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia reveal that Judy Johnson of Rodeo allegedly engaged in predicate acts of racketeering through and by means of money laundering, mail and bank fraud, as well as conversion of funds.

Johnson, female, black, is no stranger to financial schemes. For the past 8 years, she has been quietly serving as the president of an entity with a misleading name (California Consumer Protection Foundation AKA “CCPF”). This entity absorbed close to $30 million in class action cy pres awards, as well as fines and settlements imposed by the California Public Utilities Commission on utility companies. CCPF forwarded those funds to mostly questionable ACORN-like entities in South Los Angeles or to an entity headed by Michael Shames known as UCAN — presently under federal grand jury investigation in San Diego.

It appears that Johnson misused her position with the State Bar of California as “clout” to obtain cy pres awards from the settlement of class actions prosecuted and defended by various law firms in courts and before the CPUC. In addition, while never prosecuted for the scheme, some have speculated that Johnson and cohorts Robert Hawley (whom Johnson labeled the “Wizard of OZ”) and Starr Babcock were “in” on a financial scheme perpetrated by former State Bar employee Sharon Pearl, who was lightly prosecuted by then-attorney general Jerry Brown, cousin of Geoffrey Brown.

The lawsuit, filed as a civil-racketeering action by Marina Del Rey-based community activist Daniel Dydzak, also names as a defendants Starr Babcock and Robert Hawley.

According to confidential sources familiar with the situation, Dydzak filed the suit in Washington DC, because he is extremely concerned that given the caliber of the defendants and the fact that they are in control of the justice system in California, they will seek to injure him in various ways, including in seeking to somehow derail the suit.

According to these sources, Tom Layton, investigator from the State Bar of California who is well connected with Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca, in the past paid a visit to Dydzak’s neighborhood, and sought to convince his neighbors to falsely accuse Dydzak of various acts of misconduct, including providing improper and unlawful legal counsel.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE HOLLY FUJIE ACCUSED OF MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS, MONEY LAUNDERING

A former partner of Los Angeles-based Buchalter Nemer — who California Governor Jerry Brown appointed to the Los Angeles County Superior Court bench under questionable circumstances involving his cousin, former California Public Utility Commissioner Geoff Brown — is accused in federal court of committing myriad financial crimes and acts of fraud.

Documents filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia reveal that Holly Fujie of Los Angeles allegedly engaged in predicate acts of racketeering through and by means of money laundering, mail and bank fraud, as well as conversion of funds.

The lawsuit, filed as a civil-racketeering action by Marina Del Rey-based community activist Daniel Dydzak, also names as a defendant Bet Tzedek Legal Services of Los Angeles and Eric George — the son of the controversial former chief justice of California, Ronald George.

Both Holly Fujie and Eric George were directors of Bet Tzedek, an entity which obtained millions of dollars from the various trusts funds maintained and operated by the State Bar of California, as well as funds from the California Bar Foundation, where Holly Fujie presently serves as the vice-president.

Both the State Bar of California and the California Bar Foundation are under the direct control of the California Supreme Court.

The various legal trust funds maintained by the State Bar of California are overseen by the Legal Services Trust Fund Commission where, coincidently, Holly Fujie also served as director.

Heading the commission is David Lash of O’Melveny & Myers, another lawyer who is a director of Bet Tzedek, and Bonnie Rubin of 1st Century Bank — a bank owned by former president of the State Bar of California Alan Rothenberg. Coincidently, Eric George is part owner of 1st Century Bank.

Dydzak alleges in his lawsuits that part of the millions originated from the State Bar of California and its foundation headed to Bet Tzedek were embezzled by the various actors and were siphoned to off shore bank accounts.

Bet Tzedek is headed by CEO Sandor “Sandy” Samuels — former Chief Trial Counsel at embattled Countywide Financial Services — who according to Dydzak was appointed President and CEO of Bet Tzedek largely due to his working knowledge of how to operate an enterprise which engages in myriad financial crimes.

According to confidential sources familiar with the situation, Dydzak filed the suit in Washington DC, because he is extremely concerned that given the caliber of the defendants and the fact that they are in control of the justice system in California, they will seek to injure him in various ways, including in seeking to somehow derail the suit.

According to these sources, Tom Layton, investigator from the State Bar of California who is well connected with Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca, in the past paid a visit to Dydzak’s neighborhood, and sought to convince his neighbors to falsely accuse Dydzak of various acts of misconduct, including providing improper and unlawful legal counsel.

Key words:
California Governor Jerry Brown, Holly Fujie, Buchalter Nemer, California Public Utility Commission, Geoff Brown, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Bet Tzedek Legal Services, Eric George, Ronald George, State Bar of California, California Bar Foundation, California Supreme Court, Legal Services Trust Fund Commission, David Lash, O’Melveny & Myers, 1st Century Bank , Alan Rothenberg, Tom Layton