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Republicans do not pay their debts.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Optimism opens the door to great things.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Bark louder, little dog.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

You are here: Home / Politics / America / The Stockely Verdict is In: Not Guilty

The Stockely Verdict is In: Not Guilty

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The verdict in the trial of ex-St. Louis police officer Jason Stockely for the killing of Anthony Lamar Smith is in: not guilty.

ST. LOUIS • Former St. Louis police Officer Jason Stockley was found not guilty Friday of murdering a man while on duty.

St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson’s highly anticipated verdict found the white former St. Louis police officer not guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the December 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, a black drug suspect, after a high-speed pursuit and crash.

Activists, with support from some of the city’s black clergy, had pledged disruptive protests ahead of Wilson’s verdict.

Wilson addressed such statements in his order: “A judge shall not be swayed by partisan interests, public clamor or fear of criticism.”

Immediately after the verdict was issued, protesters gathered downtown near Tucker Boulevard and Market Street. They congregated on a ramp to Interstate 64 off Clark Street, but were blocked by police from entering the highway. Protesters then headed to police headquarters.

As the protests grew, Wells Fargo, Stifel and Nestle Purina PetCare sent their thousands of employees home for the day.

Here’s the entire 30 page ruling. I’d recommend starting on page 22 if you want a good understanding of Judge Wilson’s thinking. Here’s just one little bit.

Law enforcement and the National Guard are out in force, deploying before the verdict was read. Hopefully the peaceful protests and demonstrations won’t devolve into violence.

We’ll keep and eye out and post updates as appropriate.

Stay frosty!

Reader Interactions

141Comments

  1. 1.

    FlipYrWhig

    Finally, the Court observes, based on its nearly thirty years on the bench, that an urban heroin dealer not in possession of a firearm would be an anomaly.

    Did this motherfucking judge make a Jane Austen joke?

    It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

  2. 2.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    What’s the bit missing here; high speed chase, armed drug dealer seems a bit more clear cut that these Walking While Black shootings? This one of those the suspect thought the undercover cop was a rival drug dealer out to kill him things?

  3. 3.

    Adam L Silverman

    @FlipYrWhig: The judge tied himself in knots in order to rule the way he did. You can see this process of mental-legal gymnastics beginning on p. 22 of the ruling.

  4. 4.

    Elizabelle

    This court, in conscience, cannot say that the state has proven every element of murder beyond a reasonable doubt or that the defendant did not act in self-defense.”

    Because the state did not prove Stockley did not act in self-defense, Wilson wrote that he could not address lesser charges of homicide or manslaughter.

    My god. A cop could shoot any of us, at almost any time, and who could prove it wasn’t “self-defense?”

    PS: Agreed on the Jane Austen “joke.” Very strange language.

  5. 5.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    OT: Please get rid of these clickbaity ads. I liked this blog because they weren’t in the way of the comments here.

    Just more evidence that judges are human and have their own biases.

    Wilson addressed such statements in his order: “A judge shall not be swayed by partisan interests, public clamor or fear of criticism.”

    What he left out is: “Unless those partisan interests are the judge’s own.”

    Justice was not served today, going by that judge’s reasoning.

  6. 6.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: No the cop is on the dash cam recording as saying “we’re killing this guy”. Only the cop’s DNA is on the gun he claimed belonged to Smith. The shooting was caught on video. The cop appears to be – as in I haven’t seen anyone definitively refer to a diagnosis – as suffering post traumatic stress from a bombing he and his fellow Soldiers endured and survived in Iraq in 2004. Stokely also processed the crime scene he was involved with. Lots of red flags here.

  7. 7.

    NCSteve

    That one statement says it all. Improperly reached beyond the evidence at trial to turn his own anecdotal experience into evidence.

  9. 9.

    But her emails!!!

    Finally, the Court observes, based on its nearly thirty years on the bench, that an urban heroin dealer not in possession of a firearm would be an anomaly.

    Judge needs to rethink his 30 years. The chances that a suspect would still be holding onto a weapon after a car chase would probably be relatively low. They’d almost certainly try to ditch it in an effort to avoid weapons related charges.

  11. 11.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @Adam L Silverman:

    No the cop is on the dash cam recording as saying “we’re killing this guy”. Only the cop’s DNA is on the gun he claimed belonged to Smith.

    Then how the fuck could the judge rule this guy innocent, then? He basically admitted to predmediated murder in that recording.

  12. 12.

    Barbara

    It wasn’t a jury verdict. There is a chance it could be appealed by the prosecutor. It’s outrageous.

  14. 14.

    joel hanes

    The killer cop carried his own personal unauthorized AK-47 along for this mission.
    The other cop present on the scene never even unholstered.
    After four shots, Smith was only injured; a later fifth shot went to the head.

  15. 15.

    burnspbesq

    @Elizabelle:

    If that’s an accurate statement of how Missouri law allocates the burden of proof on self-defense, then Missouri law is seriously fucked up.

  18. 18.

    NCSteve

    @clay: No. He elected a bench trial. This seems to happen a lot when cops are indicted. Tough calculation. With a jury, you’re probably assured of at least one closet authoritarian who will say the right things during voir dire but deadlock the jury no matter what, but with the right judge, you have a higher chance of an outright acquittal.

  19. 19.

    trollhattan

    Based on…oh, every other bit of justice for victims of police violence out of Missouri I’d caution against it ever being served here.

  22. 22.

    Elizabelle

    The NAACP has already issued a danger alert about Missouri, several months back.

    And I think this judge’s time on the bench will be very short. It seems to be an appalling verdict, and the judge is quite aware of what a prominent case it was.

  23. 23.

    joel hanes

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Right you are. Comments composed in the heat of rage and sorrow often have errors;
    or at least mine do.

    I should have written Smith. Too late now to edit.

    Thanks for catching that.

  27. 27.

    FlipYrWhig

    @joel hanes: I’ve seen it happening a few places — I think it’s because “Stockley” is getting mixed up with “Stokely,” as in Carmichael.

  29. 29.

    Alain the site fixer

    @Major Major Major Major: Indeed. I’m trying to find revenue alternative to the video ad that so many hate. To some degree, it’s purely an economic equation: in order to get rid of a big money maker, I need to find alternative revenue. This and perhaps one or two more ads might do just that. We shall see. Taboola is at least the best of the content advertising sources; there are others that made my skin crawl a bit too much for me to suggest to John.

  33. 33.

    ruemara

    @Elizabelle: It’s a black person. They simply do not matter to real people and are some sort of amusing animal for entertainment or labor. Whether you mean low income service workers, highly paid singers or creatures to hunt, that’s up to you.

    Also, um, any word on the likelihood of this Lindsey Graham amendment to the NDAA that would allow the DHS secretary to strip americans of their citizenship and legal permanent residents of their legality (hey, that’s me!)? I have a few concerns.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    Fuck. How can these verdicts stand? Cops as murderers and ICE as gestapo. It’s like we are living in an alternate reality.

  36. 36.

    BC in Illinois

    G’daughters sent home from school at 10 this morning. (An excess of caution, but the right thing to do.)

    Daughter headed downtown for the demonstration. Surrounded by the thoughts, prayers, and support of the rest of the family. And joined with prayers and thoughts for all of the other daughters and sons downtown today.

    Can barely type this without tears in the eyes. Proud of her. Afraid for her. Police impunity, like white supremacy, is an American problem that we need to solve, if we’re going to continue together as a nation, together.

  40. 40.

    WaterGirl

    @Alain the site fixer: Did we not raise enough with the fall paypal fundraising?

    Some of these ads are driving people away and annoying the hell out of others. Probably not the goal you had in mind.

    Can you and Cole could let us know how much revenue it would take to get rid of these truly annoying ads and let us decide whether that would be a reasonable fundraising goal or not?

  41. 41.

    efgoldman

    @ruemara:

    Also, um, any word on the likelihood of this Lindsey Graham amendment to the NDAA that would allow the DHS secretary to strip americans of their citizenship and legal permanent residents of their legality

    If that’s right, Little Lindsay is showboating for the mouth breathers.
    It’s most likely unconstitutional, and I don’t think it can be part of reconciliation, which means a filibuster kills it.

  42. 42.

    WaterGirl

    @sharl:

    Stop telling people to be peaceful and tell your officers to stop killing us. We are not animals to be hunted for sport.

    This. One hundred thousand times over.

  43. 43.

    ruemara

    @(((CassandraLeo))): I think it was. I’ve been saying the marriage equality verdict was both a sop to gays who were largely progressive on their issues and we were the only berth in the storm, plus an attempt to tear down federal oversight on state issues. Their new president is a white supremacist who’s a Nazi sympathizer. They don’t want POC visible, and if possible, they don’t want them here.

  45. 45.

    Elizabelle

    @WaterGirl: FWIW, I use Adblocker on this site — and most sites — and support BJuice via Amazon purchases. There’s the paypal option too.

    Life is better without advertising. For dog’s sake, I see enough of it on Facebook.

    Incidentally: Could someone put up a link to that no ad app for Facebook? Someone mentioned it here, a few days or weeks ago, and FB is out of control.

  46. 46.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Oh, come now! Sure, if a *person* said that, it would be proof of premeditation ,but this is a POLICE OFFICER!

    (Yes, I’m being sarcastic, just in case it’s necessary to point it out.)

    .@NCSteve: Correct; the Constitution guarantees that a finding by a jury won’t be challenged, and that a person can’t be put in jeopardy twice. While the first doesn’t apply, and seems to provide an opening, the second one closes it off.

    It would be interesting if there was a determination that the judge was biased and determined to find a way to rule in favor of the officer. Has it ever been decided if a sham trial counts as jeopardy? (Thinking about it, the only time I could feel 100% comfortable calling a sham trial one that didn’t attach jeopardy is if it was determined the defendant knew the fix was in before the trial started.)

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    @ruemara: I know. It’s heartbreaking. It’s happening way too much.

    I think bad decisions, like this one, protecting bad cops — and there are many who do not belong on the force — gets good cops killed. Plus innumerable members of the public.

    When I was in Barcelona this summer, I felt so safe.

  51. 51.

    Missouri Buckeye

    @LongHairedWeirdo: This was Missouri state court. The only redress is to make a federal civil rights case out of it.

    If that happens in an (In)Justice Department led by Jeff Sessions, I will find a MAGA hat and eat it.

  53. 53.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @ruemara: Wait a minute. Strip American CITIZENS of their citizenship? I’m sure that wouldn’t be abused. The DHS secretary could become the most powerful individual in the US government if that amendment becomes law. I would hope it wouldn’t pass constiutional muster.

  56. 56.

    Adam L Silverman

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: @ruemara: They tried this with the Palmer Raids in the 1920s. I’ve emailed the amendment to a friend who is in the know on this stuff and am waiting for his analysis, but my take as someone who doesn’t specialize in Congress is that it will be stripped out so that the NDAA can pass the 60 vote cloture threshold and move to the 51 vote threshold for passage.

  57. 57.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @Missouri Buckeye: I guess then he felt safer them making this kind of ruling? I don’t know his history. This is bullshit. That guy has ruined his reputation for all time. History will not judge him kindly.

  58. 58.

    Just One More Canuck

    @LongHairedWeirdo: It happened one time on Law and Order, but I will leave it to the lawyers here to chime in on whether that counts as a binding precedent. I’m sure someone will reprimand me in a condescending way

  63. 63.

    Betty Cracker

    Economic anxiety:

  66. 66.

    ruemara

    @Major Major Major Major: There have been a number of gay conservatives who sided with Dems because it was the only way to get gay rights moved forward. take them out of the way by okaying marriage equality and some LGBT protections and you reduce the urgency of standing with a far more diverse group. There’s a lot of color issues and anti-trans attitudes in the gay community. It’s much easier to stand together when all are oppressed than if the majority are finally getting accepted.

    Amended to reflect I’ve seen formerly very progressive gays turn a centristy on things affecting POC, trans, and immigrant. It’s been disturbing.

  68. 68.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @LongHairedWeirdo:
    That’s another thing that’s seriously fucked up about this place. This attitude that cops and soldiers must be respected at all times even when they do horrible things. It’s like everyone’s expected to just bow down and worship them. I think this all partly just an overreaction to how Vietnam vets were treated after coming back.

    I understand the necessity of these institutions, but they’re only human and make mistakes. Go online, and there are many service members who hate it when people thank them for their service when they were warehouse workers.

  69. 69.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    OT, but is everyone now getting a clot of click bait stuff on each thread? My phone was wonky earlier and now suddenly lots of weirdness is showing up.

  70. 70.

    Elizabelle

    @Major Major Major Major: I would love to clean up my FB page. It’s so cluttered, and I am sick of all the groups FB thinks I should belong to. They’re out of control with the advertising … and fake news, too.

    Checked the adguard page and they offered a 14 day free trial, and purchase after that.

    Anyway, someone here suggested a program that was specifically designed for Facebook ….

  74. 74.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Elizabelle: When I go to Safari > Safari Extensions… and search for AdGuard, it says right there, free and open source. Using it as anything but the free tier of the Safari extension looks like it costs money though.

    ETA: But I don’t know a FB-specific one.

    ETAA: AdGuard looks to be free as a Chrome extension too, I think it’s the system-wide software that costs money.

  81. 81.

    joel hanes

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:

    Strip American CITIZENS of their citizenship? I’m sure that wouldn’t be abused. The DHS secretary could become the most powerful individual in the US government if that amendment becomes law. I would hope it wouldn’t pass constiutional muster.

    If I am not mistaken (and I sure hope I am), the shameful Military Commisions Act of 2006 arguably authorizes the President or anyone designated by the President to name anyone as an “enemy combatant”, a category beyond the reach of habeus corpus. Defenders of the law say that it applies only to non-citizens, but one of the authors says otherwise; I don’t think this issue has been ajudicated.

    In short words, it’s possible Trump could authorize Sessions to name some American who contributes to some Iranian charity an “enemy non-combatant”, at which point that American would completely lose access to the courts for remedy. One would hope that a respect for procedural norms and for justice would forclose such an interpretation, but neither Trump nor Sessions have demonstrated any such respect.

    Please, some lawyer, show me where I’m wrong, because I’d really like to be wrong about this.

  85. 85.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @Betty Cracker:
    Don’t know if you watch America’s Got Talent, but there was a choir/boy singer group kind of act that guys from the air force. They got pretty far IRC. Just this year too. I know they used their uniforms to get as far as they have. And of course their introductory film in the semi-finals just had to be a tongue bath about how they Joined the Military Serve Their Country.

  88. 88.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @joel hanes:

    One would hope that a respect for procedural norms and for justice would forclose such an interpretation, but neither Trump nor Sessions have demonstrated any such respect.

    If the story of the Roman Republic teaches us anything, you never leave that door open in the first place. Because someday, someone will use it for nefarious purposes.

  90. 90.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jeffro: I don’t watch Fox News, but I follow it on Twitter, and a huge percentage of features can be summarized as OOGA-BOOGA!

  93. 93.

    Quinerly

    I’m here in the city St. Louis, not far from downtown. Hoping that everyone remains calm, cool, and collected. I’ve practiced before Judge Wilson when he was in the civil division. Not a terrible judge but I’m not surprised by his ruling. Most of us expected it. Very upsetting. Ferguson is still raw.

  94. 94.

    joel hanes

    @Patricia Kayden:

    They can do anything they like.

    I believe that’s the ultimate meaning of Catch-22. The book has various restatements of the Catch, but the most general seems to be

    They can do anything we can’t stop them from doing.

    accent on “anything”

  95. 95.

    Heidi Mom

    Please forgive my digression from the discussion of this very serious matter, but — there is an ad with a large SPIDER accompanying this thread! This is not acceptable, no way, no how. I don’t want to leave Balloon Juice, but this is my trigger — sorry! Anything I or anyone can do about this? Oh crap, now I have to come back to the thread to see if there are any responses.

  100. 100.

    Elizabelle

    @Quinerly: Hello there.

    Why did you expect the ruling? Did you think it was a tough case for the prosecution?

    WRT that item, this statement from the prosecutor — I must confess I originally thought the first word was “White”:

    “While officer-involved shootings are very hard to return a guilty verdict, I am confident that we presented sufficient evidence at a trial to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Jason Stockley was guilty of murder in the first degree,” Gardner told reporters. “But at the end of the day, it was the judge who served as the finder of fact. … I must respect Judge Wilson’s decision but I stand by the evidence we presented in court.”

    Link to her statement.

    The police investigate themselves in St. Louis. Several years passed since this police shooting, because it seems to be internal affairs that provided new evidence to the prosecutor, who then filed these charges.

    Also, FWIW, it cannot hurt that the defendant white cop bears a striking resemblance to former QB John Elway.

  101. 101.

    joel hanes

    @Major Major Major Major:

    That’s only the first way the Catch is presented.

    The bit I blockquoted is a direct quote from the book; I believe it comes shortly after the drunken officers throw the prostitute they’ve killed out the window, and the MPs burst into the room and arrest Yossarian.

  102. 102.

    Elizabelle

    @Heidi Mom: I say pop in Adblocker. I don’t see spiders, or ads for Korean or Russian honeys, or any of the weird things that used to pop up. Just jackals at play.

  107. 107.

    Quinerly

    @Elizabelle:
    Heading out to my local American Legion Hall for happy hour so not a lot of time for a long response. I don’t practice criminal law but the criminal attorneys I know have all said that the prosecutor over charged the case. I got to about page 10 of Judge Wilson’s ruling. Will finish it tomorrow.

  108. 108.

    Marcopolo

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: @joel hanes: who needs hypotheticals? An American citizen who fought alongside ISIS in Syria just surrendered. It will be informative to see how the Trump admin decides to adjudicate his case. My guess is the will do their damnedest to keep him out of the American legal system/ignore anything his citizenship might afford him legally.

    On a different note, another St Louisan here. Tracking the protests which so far have been peaceful. Pretty much everything planned to happen downtown tonight has been cancelled–which was one of the goals of the protesters so that’s a win (no business like normal for a little bit). Not sure what tonight will bring, but hopefully more of the same peacefulness as I know a few folks who will be out protesting tonight.

  109. 109.

    TenguPhule

    @Alain the site fixer:

    there are others that made my skin crawl a bit too much for me to suggest to John.

    What could possibly be worse then clickbait hell you thought was the least bad choice?

    Wait, on second thought, don’t answer that.

  111. 111.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Heidi Mom:

    Refresh the page. Usually you get a change of ads when you do that. They seem to cycle through about every third or fourth refresh.

    If it continues to be a problem, you can deploy an ad blocker. People here will be glad to show you how.

  116. 116.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Quinerly: I guess the only good thing is that Stockley is no longer a cop in Missouri. I believe I read that he moved to Houston. Hopefully he’s not a cop down there.

  117. 117.

    Quinerly

    @Marcopolo:
    Everywhere I have been today…south city (Holly Hills, St. Louis Hills) and now back to Soulard…there have been speeding cop cars heading towards downtown. A lot of activities this weekend…I know the organizers of the festival on Cherokee Street tomorrow are concerned….and then there are the two music festivals in Webster and Kirkwood. South Grand had a lot of problems after Ferguson…they are having their Fall Festival tomorrow. Just hope everything is peaceful. Stay safe.

  118. 118.

    debbie

    We got this going on here.

    The cop in question was not in on the beating, er, arrest. He was merely observing. His body cam picked up his language, for which he’s been relieved of duty (temporarily), but the department doesn’t seem to be disturbed about the guy getting the shit beaten out of him in the background.

  121. 121.

    mskitty

    @Patricia Kayden Jason Stockley would have fit right in with the other cops in the Houston Police Dept, but he didn’t go there – he went into the awl bidness, managing international drilling.

  125. 125.

    Aleta

    Finally, the Court observes, based on the inviolate white supremacy of the US judicial system, that a murder of a black man by a white man that could not be excused as self-defense would be an anomaly.

  126. 126.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Marcopolo:

    who needs hypotheticals?

    What hyptheticals, it read like a stupid war on drugs thing until the NAACP and the black churches were up in arms over it. The blacks I’ve talked an’t exactly fans of drug dealers so for the black community to be pissed over it suggests the suspect was framed. (and even if was a drug dealer, drug abuse is a public health issue and not an excuse for judical murders)

  128. 128.

    BC in Illinois

    @Quinerly:
    I’m 500 miles away (at a “Beef Fest” in Wisconsin) but the Riverfront Times reports half-a-dozen arrests and some pepper spray.

  129. 129.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @ruemara:

    It’s a black person.

    It may start with the blacks, but soon enough it gets to the “wrong” type of whites too.

  130. 130.

    MomSense

    As soon as I heard the verdict, I thought of this song that Crys performed last Sunday at a concert I attended.

    We Must Be Free

    They say that freedom is a constant struggle
    We’ve struggled so long we must be free
    We must be free

  131. 131.

    squid696

    @NCSteve: The case can be appealed. It is not Double Jeopardyfor a prosecutor to get a new trial after appeal because of legal errors committed by the judge during the initial trial.

  132. 132.

    BC in Illinois

    @Katep:
    My daughter in the city was notified that the schools were closed right after the verdict came out, 9:30–10:00. She immediately went to pick up the g’kids.

    Other daughter, at the protest sent this (quote):

    Escalated bc police came in full riot gear, ordered to disperse. Was peaceful until mace came out. Now ppl are pissed.

  133. 133.

    NCSteve

    @squid696: Those weren’t legal errors. Those were findings of fact.

    There is no appeal from the ruling of a judge, sitting as finder of fact, for the defendant in a criminal case. Because you’re not allowed to try someone twice for the same offense.

    Even in a civil matter, findings of fact by a judge are upheld on appeal if there is any evidence to support them, no matter now much evidence there is to the contrary. Likewise, the finder of fact’s assessment of the weight given to any piece of evidence, the credibility of witnesses, and the validity of technical or scientific evidence are all up to the fact-finder’s and will not be overturned unless you can show the finder of fact was just flat out insane. And that’s in a civil matter. In a criminal case, an acquittal ends it, no matter how stupid. Hell, technically, a judge could engage in open jury nullification and the Double Jeopardy clause would still apply. The judge would probably end up before the local judicial standards commission (or subject to impeachment if a federal judge), but the defendant would still walk.

    The defendant can always appeal, of course.

  134. 134.

    BC in Illinois

    From SFgate (sorry, can’t link):

    St. Louis police are saying they no longer consider a protest at a downtown intersection peaceful and they’re asking that demonstrators leave the area.
    ….
    In a tweet, the Police Department said the protestors were ignoring commands and violating the law and subject to arrest.

    It reminds me of the ’60s. “Peaceful Assembly ” then “we order you all to leave” then “you are all lawbreakers subject to arrest.”

  137. 137.

    BC in Illinois

    @burnspbesq:
    That’s the fear. But now, this is the text I get from 500 miles away: daughter is home, going tonight to a rally in the Central West End.

    Worried about escalating tension. But _______ is going with me. Thanks for the support and prayers.

    _______ is about five foot two.

  138. 138.

    Marcopolo

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: um, the word hypotheticals was in regards to whether congress might pass a law allowing folks to be stripped of their citizenship and how the Trump admin might deal with that issue. Two different paragraphs two different subjects. Second para in regards to St Louis.

  139. 139.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    @Yutsano: I know that. I was speculating about a hypothetical: what if someone found proof positive that the fix was in, and the judge was going to find a way to rule “not guilty”? Would that still attach jeopardy? Has that question ever been answered? I don’t know. (My guess is that it would. I remember a relatively famous case where a jury was seated – at that point, jeopardy attaches – and a judge made a ruling that ended the trial, not realizing that this would let the defendant go free. (The judge was previously a civil judge, and muffed this *huge* difference between civil vs criminal trials.) If jeopardy attaches to the judicial equivalent of a typo, I don’t think it will detach over “just” a sham trial.

    To answer another commenter: and yes, civil rights charges could be pursued, but, yes, they almost certainly won’t be, with Sessions in charge. (Morbid thought: even if there were such charges, how do we know Trump wouldn’t pardon the officer anyway, if it would make the base happy?)

  140. 140.

    worn

    @Alain the site fixer: The problem is that Taboola ads are always bullshit. Added to this, they often slow down the sites that run them significantly. And in IMHO, they diminish the quality of the sites they appear on.

    I have never run any sort of ad blocking on BJ and I’ve been a more or less daily reader/lurker since before John’s big switch. But the Taboola crap is a step toward reader abuse and I’ve now blacklisted both the divs, though I’m not exactly happy to be backed into this corner. There’s got to be a happy compromise out there to be found.

    Perhaps other reader’s suggestions of another fundraiser might be considered? Or are the server / web hosting costs just astronomical?

  141. 141.

    worn

    To the other readers / commenters:

    I am auditioning a new FF add-on, yarip, that allows one to remove the div elements that contain the ad from page code. Seems to be working thus far on the new Taboola ads. This allows me to preserve the other advertisements and allow at least some income to flow into the BJ coffers.

    It’s a free add-on, btw.

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