U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez has caused pressure on his belief in his “duty to obey the law” in three Second Amendment cases.
On Sunday, August 8, 2021, I went to the shooting range for some goal practice.After lunch break, I checked my phone and found the notice just released by the Los Angeles Times “The judge overturned California’s gun laws: a’blessed’ jurist or a’cold theorist’?”, An article questioning the motives and qualifications of U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez.
The article has sixty-four paragraphs. Eight of them are neutral and descriptive.Seventeen of them said something positive to Judge Benitez; half, if you happen to be triggered by a positive description of 2.nd Amendment. At the end of the article, reporters Laura Nelson and Christina Davis did give a historical account of Benitez’s own witness to the gun control terror supported by the Cuban government. The remaining positive passages quoted peer reviewers who he generally liked this person. One paragraph stated that his appointment to the bench was supported by California Senator Dianne Feinstein. Both parties confirmed him with a 98-1 vote.
The 39 paragraphs are divided into disgusting descriptions: what appears to be a complaint about squeezing sour grapes, the horror story of the defense lawyer encountering Judge Benitez in the court, and what the reporter called “the warning of gun safety advocates”.
The defense lawyer didn’t like him putting his feet on the fire. Lobbyists expressed their pain at the collapse of Benitez’s introduction of legal theories that would undermine their narrative.
But through the judge’s review, the incident about Benitez indicated that “Blessed Jurists” may be the answer to the Los Angeles Times’ clickbait headline. Let us unravel some of these comments.
U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns (Larry Burns), in response to the defense lawyers and the ABA’s criticism of Benitez, blamed many of the ABA’s findings on misunderstandings, saying that Benitez “has a lot of social demeanor” “And “very gadfly.” People are attracted to him. “
In the forty-four paragraphs later in the article, this admiration continues, “I think he is the epitome of the American dream,” Burns, his judge colleague, said in an interview. “A person who came from a very difficult environment and became one of the very few federal judges in the United States.”
Among lawyers, opinions differ. The prosecutor in one case in the article described Benitez as a “model of civilization.” On the contrary, the defense lawyers in the same case believed that the judge’s actions were “a deliberate attempt to humiliate and devalue.” This is at the sentencing hearing in a case that has already been convicted, appealed many times, and is preparing for a heavy sentence again. Heated hostility? sounds like. But we should all remember that the job of lawyers is to defend their clients tenaciously. The job of a judge is a theater beyond the court.
The reporter’s critical statistical style also appears to be a bit biased. Take the following,
“According to Westlau’s analysis, during the 10 years of Benitez’s career, 14% of his decisions were revoked or cancelled in the 9th Circuit.
This is in a higher range than the other five judges nominated by Bush for the Southern District, whose negative results ranged from 9% to 15%. Sean Martin, a professor at the University of San Diego School of Law, said that a rate of more than 20% would be considered troublesome by legal experts. “
Taking this apart, the barrier fence is a worrisome rate higher than 20%, and Benitez’s record is much lower than this. Do the math, Benitez’s 14% is the average in the overall situation. Technically speaking, there is no burger. I haven’t seen UCSD professor Martin directly asking him if he is troubled; it’s just Lenovo’s innuendo, which, in my opinion, is unfounded anyway.
Undoubtedly, Judge Benitez found himself encountering some very difficult processes in the passage of the Bill of Rights in the United States. Especially the Second Amendment.
This journey was projected strangely by reporters, “This was a purely random decision that led Benitez to end in so many key gun cases.”
Then they elaborated,
In 2017, he was assigned a lawsuit against a large-volume magazine. Then there were three Second Amendments in the next two years… For three years in a row, the 70-year-old judge made three rulings that overturned California’s gun laws and plunged him into Intense national gun debate.
In 2019, he Blocked the ban In a magazine that can hold more than 10 bullets.The following year, he Knocked down A law approved by voters requires a background check on the purchase of ammunition.And this summer, he Overthrown California has long banned offensive weapons.
For many gun control advocates and victims of gun violence, especially the final decision Arouse anger and suspicion.
Quotes from gun control advocates in the article include,
Jonathan Lowy, chief legal counsel of Brady, a non-profit organization that opposes gun violence, said: “His views show that views on gun rights are very exaggerated, while views on Americans’ right to survive are very pessimistic. .”
After the assault weapons ruling, Governor Gavin Newsom (Gavin Newsom) denounced Benitez as a “cold theorist” and “a wholly-owned subsidiary of the gun lobby and the National Rifle Association.”
“This is a new and deeply disturbing line of thought,” said Ari Freilich, director of California policy at the Giffords Law Center. He said that Benitez seemed to imply that the Second Amendment protected “the right of ordinary people in the civilian militia to go to war against their government.”
But another judge summed up the matter differently.
“The Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court Dana Sabraw described his colleague as “a man of unquestionable integrity.” We may not agree on rulings, regardless of the circumstances, but they are not based on political agendas or ideologies. He fulfilled his obligations very faithfully, abiding by the law wherever it is. “
