News – Page 59 – It Matters How You Stand

Gary Hunt : Freedom of the Press #16 Jurisdiction Hearing

To put proper perspective on recent ongoing events leading up to my jurisdiction hearing in Portland, Oregon, on May 9, 2017, we must go back to the Order (ECF #1901) to show cause why I should not be held in contempt of Court. That Order demanded my appearance to answer the allegations made by the government. It was specific to the show cause and had nothing to do with jurisdiction. Had I appeared, it could easily be argued by the Court that my appearance was a submission to jurisdiction. Now, as strange as it might seem, unless jurisdictional questions are raised at the outset, the Court can properly assume jurisdiction. My research indicates that this was firmly established as early as 1856 (Dredd Scott v Sandford, 60 US 393 (1856)). Matters of jurisdiction were not the object of the hearing, and may not necessarily be heard.

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Bundy supporters in Pahrump for the long haul

Thursday was day seven for protesters camped out in front the Nevada Southern Detention Facility in support of inmate Ryan Bundy.

Bundy and additional defendants are scheduled for trial next month for their alleged, respective roles in the armed standoff against officials from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management back in 2014.

Protester John Lamb said he traveled to Pahrump from Montana in support of Bundy and other inmates.

Lamb was joined by others outside the facility who claim Bundy and other inmates are being mistreated by detention officials, a claim denied by the U.S. Marshals Service.

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Review of national monuments prompts BLM to postpone Gold Butte forum

The Bureau of Land Management has postponed an upcoming public forum on Gold Butte National Monument as the Department of Interior conducts a controversial review of it and other monuments.

BLM officials were slated to host the latest in a series of informational forums on Gold Butte on May 25 in North Las Vegas, but they decided to delay the meeting until the broader monument review is complete.

As part of the review process, the Interior Department began accepting public input this week on national monument designations from the past two decades.

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Congressman lambastes Trump for national monument review

Rep. Ruben Kihuen has unleashed a diatribe against President Trump over his executive order telling the Interior secretary to review national monument designations for the past 20 years, saying Trump doesn’t give a damn about Nevadans.

Democrat Kihuen flatly stated that most Nevadans support public lands and their permanent protection and criticized Trump for calling recent national monuments — such as the 1 million-acre Gold Butte and Basin and Range national monument designations Obama created in his final year in office — a “massive federal land grab.”

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California resident who outed FBI informants in refuge takeover appears before federal judge

A federal judge Tuesday directed prosecutors to lay out their case in writing to support their argument that California resident Gary Hunt knowingly violated a court protective order by posting the names of informants who helped the FBI during the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown also asked the government to address the “efficacy” of pursuing a contempt of court ruling, considering that Hunt already has spent seven days in jail and some of the FBI informants’ names came out during the course of two federal conspiracy trials stemming from the 41-day refuge occupation last year.

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THE TORTURE OF AMMON BUNDY… – Redoubt News

“What I am about to say will not set well with a lot of people. The enemy of liberty is the government employee. The government official, the bureaucrat. Not the elected official per se, but the employee for government agencies. They are takers, they are not producers.”

It was only a short time later that we received reports of extreme torture and abuse of Ammon Bundy wherein he was confined to a 3 foot by 3 foot shower stall, with door closed and his hands chained behind his back for over 13 hours. He was scheduled to be in that confined space for 72 hours but was released earlier because of the massive amount of attention brought by the public to the situation.

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Protests in Pahrump

Protests in Pahrump

Those awaiting trial in the Bunkerville standoff case have been clashing with corrections officers at the private facility in Pahrump where they are being held.

Last week, Ryan Bundy, one of rancher Cliven Bundy’s sons who likewise is charged as a leader, sued the federal government. In his lawsuit, he argued that strip searches were unconstitutional and said he was deprived of his rights when he was punished for failing to submit to them. Ryan Bundy said in the complaint that he has spent weeks in the “hole,” a colloquial term for solitary confinement.

Then, on Wednesday, supporters of the individual rights movement the Bundys espouse showed up to protest outside the Pahrump facility after they learned of an alleged incident involving brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy. Protesters, who have spent three days in Pahrump, claim the Bundys were punished after they argued with an official over a shirt that was left on Ammon Bundy’s bed.

“The jail will not tell me what’s going on without a subpoena,” said Ammon Bundy’s defense attorney, Dan Hill. “I’m definitely going to subpoena to find out what’s going on. He’s presumed innocent, and what they’re putting him through in there is interfering with trial preparation.”

Hill said Ammon Bundy is in solitary confinement, and that he has not spoken to him since the alleged incident occurred.

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Marcus Mumford: Judge’s move to stop him from practicing in OR federal courts ‘unwarranted’

Ammon Bundy’s lawyer Marcus Mumford called a judge’s push to revoke his ability to practice law in federal court in Oregon a “serious and stigmatizing” sanction and unwarranted.

The Utah-based lawyer has asked U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman for more time to respond.

Mumford also wants a full transcript of last fall’s refuge occupation trial to challenge what Mosman called Mumford’s repeated failures or refusals to observe court rulings, highlighted in about 545 pages of excerpts from the trial transcript.

Mumford was supposed to file his response to Mosman by Thursday, but instead filed an 11-page memo asking for at least 45 more days, noting the gravity of Mosman’s action and that it could significantly undermine his career.

He argued that many of the challenges he raised during Bundy’s trial resulted from U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown’s rulings that limited the scope of his questions in response to objections raised by prosecutors.

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Restoring free speech for churches is right thing to do, but wrong way to do it « 4TH ST8

A law without enforcement is not a law.

Just as Obama essentially repealed the nation’s immigration laws by refusing to enforce them, Trump’s executive order telling the IRS to not enforce the congressionally passed Johnson Amendment — limiting the political speech of churches that receive tax exemptions — usurps the power of Congress.

It seems to be the right thing to do, but the wrong way to do it.

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Democrats demanding deletion of ‘free speech’ clause from First Amendment « 4TH ST8

You’ll get your free speech when Nevada Democratic lawmakers say you can — if ever.

On Tuesday an Assembly committee heard testimony on Senate Joint Resolution 4, which would urge Congress to amend the Constitution to strike the free speech portion of the First Amendment. SJR4, sponsored by Las Vegas Democratic state Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro, specifically would erase the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC, which held that it was unconstitutional to forbid the broadcast of a movie critical of then presidential candidate Hillary Clinton just because it was paid for by a corporation.

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Ken Medenbach to be placed under house arrest pending probation violation hearing

By Maxine Bernstein | The Oregonian/OregonLive | May 04, 2017 at 11:02 AM Kenneth Medenbach, taken into custody last month in Las Vegas where he had traveled to attend the Bunkerville trial, was ordered released from custody at 2 p.m. Wednesday. He’ll be placed on house arrest with electronic monitoring upon his return to Oregon, pending a May 22 probation violation hearing in U.S. District Court in Eugene. Medenbach ended up being held at the same jail in Nevada where the Bundy brothers are awaiting federal trial. Upon release, he sent his attorney a photograph of Bundy supporters protesting outside […]

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Prosecutors struggle to prove conspiracy in Bundy cases

Twelve unsure people

The verdict form in the first Bunkerville standoff trial suggested confusion and indecision among jurors on the two conspiracy charges.

Jurors marked “not guilty” on the first two conspiracy counts, and then subsequently crossed out the check marks before submitting the verdict form to the court. U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial in the case on Monday, after jurors deadlocked on 50 of the 60 counts against the six men on trial.

Jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict against any of the men on the first two conspiracy charges, but they convicted Arizona resident Gregory Burleson of eight other counts and Idaho resident Todd Engel of two. The jury hung on all 10 counts against the four other defendants.

The conspiracy charges represented the central dispute of the trial. During deliberations, jurors asked the judge multiple times to clarify her legal instructions on those two charges.

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Free Jerry DeLemus, Support Donald Trump Rally to be Held April 29

CONCORD, NH — Granite Staters on Saturday, April 29, 2017, from 1 to 3 p.m. will be meeting in front of the NH State House at 107 N. Main St. in Concord to show support for Rochester resident and decorated U.S. Marine Gerald (Jerry) DeLemus, and for President Donald Trump, according to a press statement. DeLemus was arrested by FBI agents in March 2016 and transported to Nevada on a charge in connection with the 2014 tense standoff involving Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy.

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Ryan Bundy sues federal government

By Jenny Wilson Las Vegas Review-Journal April 25, 2017 – 5:12 pm Ryan Bundy, a son of embattled rancher Cliven Bundy who is incarcerated pending trial on conspiracy charges, has sued the federal government. In a lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for Nevada in Las Vegas, Bundy challenges the constitutionality of prison policies and alleges deprivation of rights after he was punished for refusing to obey those policies. Bundy was transferred to prison in Nevada last fall after he was acquitted of conspiring to stage an armed takeover of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon. He is […]

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Questions remain after mistrial in Bunkerville standoff case

One question is hanging over the federal courthouse in the wake of Monday’s mistrial: What happens next? Federal prosecutors still have not decided whether to retry the defendants. Taxpayers already have been saddled with significant costs, which only will balloon in a repeat trial. And the remaining 11 defendants who have been in prison for over a year do not want to wait any longer for their day in court.

That is why some defense attorneys who represent the second group of defendants, charged as “leaders” of the armed protests in Bunkerville, are hoping that if prosecutors decide to retry any or all of the men in the first group, they will do so by combining them with the second group.

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Gary Hunt : Freedom of the Press #15 The Long Arm of the Law, or Not?

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining Witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

Now, this sets the stage for Jurisdiction. Any criminal proceedings must be in “the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed.” Could it be any less for, say, a violation of a Court issued Protective Order? Especially, if that Protective Order only subjects a few, fully described people, in its mandate? The Order:

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Trump to order review of Bears Ears, Grand-Staircase, other national monuments

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Wednesday instructing the Interior Department to review national monument designations made over the past two decades.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said he was grateful that Trump was moving to roll back what Hatch called “massive federal land grabs” by presidents dating to Bill Clinton. Hatch and other Utah Republicans have long lamented Clinton’s 1996 designation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah.

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Feds stumble again with split verdict in Bundy standoff case

Government prosecutors stumbled again Monday in a bid to gain convictions of armed protesters in a case arising from skirmishes in a decades-old battle over control of public lands in the western United States.

A federal jury in Las Vegas found two gunmen guilty of some charges in a 2014 armed standoff that stopped federal agents from enforcing court orders and confiscating cows belonging to Cliven Bundy from public rangeland near his Nevada ranch and melon farm.

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Judge declares mistrial in Bundy Ranch standoff case

A federal judge declared a mistrial Monday in the first Bunkerville standoff case, which targeted six men accused of conspiring with rancher Cliven Bundy to derail a court-ordered cattle seizure in 2014.

The mistrial — an anticlimactic end to a highly anticipated trial — was declared hours after the jury convicted two men of some of the 10 counts in the superseding indictment.

In returning the guilty verdicts, which still stand, jurors informed the court they were “hopelessly deadlocked” on the remaining counts and defendants. U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro sent them back to the deliberation room in a last-ditch effort to encourage them to reach a more complete verdict.

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Jury notes snag on conspiracy counts in Nevada standoff case

LAS VEGAS – A federal jury in Las Vegas signaled trouble deliberating conspiracy charges Thursday before ending work for the week in the trial of six men who brought assault-style weapons to a standoff with government agents near Cliven Bundy’s ranch in April 2014.

Jurors adjourned shortly before 12:30 p.m. without a verdict and decided to return Monday, after Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro told the eight women and four men that they are allowed to set their own schedule.

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Gary Hunt – Freedom of the Press #14 Telephonic Hearing

In my previous article, “Freedom of the Press #13 – Sojourn to Sacramento“, I mentioned the telephonic hearing held on Thursday, April 6, leading to my release, just a few hours later. Prior to the hearing, it was set in stone, by Magistrate Brennan, in Sacramento, that I would not arrive in Portland until April 25. This fits the schedule for “diesel therapy” (where the run you all over the country, in a sense, punishing you for being accused of a criminal act), which would take me to Oklahoma, then to Pahrump, Nevada, and then on to Portland over a period of twenty-five days. The hearing, however, forestalled that tour of the West. What led up to that hearing is the subject of this article.

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As jury weighs Bundy Ranch standoff, Carol Bundy awaits her husband’s fate

BUNKERVILLE, Nev. — Carol Bundy sits alone in the living room of her family’s home, restlessly awaiting word that a federal jury is ready to render its verdict on the fate of “the custom and culture of the West; the cowboy way of life.”

Outside the front window, a sprinkler splashes water onto a small square of grass. Inside, a washing machine with worn bearings grinds through another load.

It’s hard to imagine this pastoral setting, past the concrete walkway and on the other side of a wagon-wheel entry gate, as the staging ground of what nearly became the 21st century’s first range war.

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Finicum family fighting BLM for grazing rights after death of LaVoy Finicum in Oregon standoff

Her husband will never return to trail the cows to winter range again, but Jeanette Finicum is determined that she will get the job done, eventually.

Although she’s provided a check to fully cover fines assessed over the last year, the Arizona rancher continues to be locked out of both her winter and summer grazing ranges.

Jeanette, whose husband Robert “LaVoy” Fincium was shot and killed by Oregon State Troopers last January, has managed grazing decisions on their northern Arizona ranch alone since his Jan. 26, 2016 death.

Pounding staples, doctoring sick calves and putting out mineral are on Jeanette’s list of tasks to complete throughout the year. Those are the easy jobs. She can soon add a much more painful item to the list: filing suit against the Bureau of Land Management. She plans to file suit within the next two weeks.

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