Federal judge refuses new criminal cases
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A federal judge in Milwaukee has not taken new criminal cases in over a month.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller's recusal orders cite law saying judges must pass off a case if they give an opinion on it, but he has not explained his actions further.
He did not immediately respond to an inquiry Monday by The Associated Press.
Professor Laurie Levenson, from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, says she's never heard of a similar situation.
This spring, the U.S. attorney's office challenged Stadtmueller at the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Prosecutors accused him of showing bias in a 2005 gun case and breaking federal rules by suggesting they strike a plea deal.
Stadtmueller wondered how the case had taken so much time and why it was in federal court.
Aug 24, 2009 at 12:37 p.m.
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Typical Judge, thinking they are more important and more powerful than they are or should be. In my humble opinion, of course.
Aug 24, 2009 at 10:40 a.m.
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He is taking civil cases and there are many more civil cases than criminal ones, but the latter consume half of the time judges spend on cases. Judges have a lot of discretion usually in choosing their docket and usually such things are resolved amongst colleagues, but this does seem to be unusual. It's not at all clear that it's permanent. He seems to be organizing a sort of one-man strike.
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"Underlying that dispute was a concern by Stadtmueller - and shared by other judges - about the kind of cases coming into federal court. Because of congressional changes, federal court has shifted from mostly complex white-collar and organized crime to more low-level drug, gun and child pornography cases."
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/5...
Aug 24, 2009 at 10:19 a.m.
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Perhaps he has a good reason.
Aug 24, 2009 at 9:15 a.m.
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Perhaps he should be removed from the bench if he is not going to do his job.
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