Lawyers for Sholom Rubashkin today filed a petition for writ of certiorari for the United States Supreme Court. Rubashkin, who is serving a 27-year sentence for bank fraud, is seeking relief from the Supreme Court because the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to consider evidence that Rubashkin first discovered after the trial that made the trial fundamentally unfair.
Supreme Court to Decide on Rubashkin Appeal
Lawyers for Sholom Rubashkin today filed a petition for writ of certiorari for the United States Supreme Court. Rubashkin, who is serving a 27-year sentence for bank fraud, is seeking relief from the Supreme Court because the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to consider evidence that Rubashkin first discovered after the trial that made the trial fundamentally unfair.
The newly discovered evidence showed that the trial judge had participated for seven months before the immigration raid on Rubashkin’s meat-packing plant in planning for the raid. She and the prosecutors failed to disclose these meetings to Rubashkin’s trial lawyers. Rubashkin is also seeking relief from the Supreme Court because the Eighth Circuit upheld his extraordinary 27-year sentence as “reasonable” even though the trial court did not consider whether that sentence would result in unwarranted disparities among similarly situated defendants, as required by federal sentencing law.
Rubashkin is represented by Paul Clement of Bancroft PLLC and Nathan Lewin of Lewin & Lewin, LLP.
“The Court of Appeals’ decision raised two issues of extraordinary importance to criminal defendants and to the proper functioning of the criminal justice system as a whole,” said Paul Clement. “Sholom Rubashkin was given an unusually harsh sentence for his actions. In my entire career, I cannot recall a similar instance of harsh punishment for a non-violent, first-time offender with a long record of charitable service to his community.”
Nathan Lewin, who represented Rubashkin and argued his appeal in the Eighth Circuit, jointly authored the petition for certiorari with Paul Clement. Mr. Lewin said, “The Supreme Court will surely recognize how outrageous and unjust Mr. Rubashkin’s prosecution and conviction have been and will, with G-d’s help, review and reverse the decision below so that he will be able to return as soon as possible to his loving family and community.”
Background on Rubashkin Case:
Sholom Rubashkin was arrested for immigration-related charges six months after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the meat processing plant, Agriprocessors, located in Postville, Iowa. Less than a month later, he was arrested again on bank-fraud charges. He was later acquitted of all state charges following the federal trial. The government initially recommended Rubashkin receive a life sentence, but reduced that to 25 years after prominent voices in the legal community spoke out against the severity of the sentence, including from six former U.S. Attorneys General. The district judge sentenced him to two years more, resulting in a 27-year sentence, effectively still a life sentence for a 51-year old man—without undertaking its obligation to consider whether that sentence resulted in disparities with similarly situated defendants. In 2010, Rubashkin filed a motion for a new trial on grounds of newly discovered evidence under Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure because he discovered from documents produced in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that the trial judge, Linda Reade, had participated actively in at least 12 ex parte communications with prosecutors and immigration officials, in planning the immigration raid. He requested that an evidentiary hearing be conducted and that a different judge be assigned to his motion. Nonetheless, Judge Reade personally denied the Rule 33 motion and other requested relief. The Court of Appeals refused to consider whether this ruling was lawful because it held that a Rule 33 motion may pertain only to newly obtained proof of guilt or innocence, and not to evidence that concerns the fundamental fairness of the trial. It also upheld his extraordinary 27-year sentence as “reasonable.”
The petition for a writ of certiorari asserts that in federal Courts of Appeals other than the Eighth Circuit a defendant may make a motion under Rule 33 when new evidence demonstrates that a trial was fundamentally unfair, and not only where there is new evidence relating to guilt or innocence. It also contends that an evidentiary hearing was necessary and appropriate, and that the motion should have been assigned to a different judge. It further claims that other federal Courts of Appeals have vacated sentences where, as in this case, a sentencing court failed to consider a defendant’s argument for a lower sentence or explain its basis for rejecting it. Rubashkin was also tried in an Iowa state court on multiple misdemeanor charges alleging that he knowingly hired under-age workers. The state prosecutor initially filed 9,311 counts against Rubashkin, but only 67 were submitted to the jury. Rubashkin was found not guilty on all 67 counts.
The prosecutors deliberately concealed from Rubashkin’s trial lawyers the details of more than a dozen meetings they had with the trial judge before the immigration raid that resulted in his arrest and prosecution. Since the facts were concealed from them, the lawyers did not move for the judge’s recusal. The recent release of the independent report on the prosecution of Senator Ted Stevens should focus attention, as well, on the misconduct of the prosecutors in the Rubashkin case.
To date, more than 52,000 people have signed a petition on the White House’s “We the People” website, urging an investigation into misconduct by the prosecution. Furthermore, 50 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have written letters to Attorney General Eric Holder, urging an investigation into the allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. In June, 75 U.S. Attorneys and law professors sent a letter to the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility, joining the call for an immediate investigation into allegations of ex parte communications between Judge Reade and prosecutors.
Jefferson
Paul Clement is the same lawyer who argued against ObamaCare in the supreme court last week.
This is good news.
Familiar faces
The judge all the way on the left looks like the “Return Chalker Man”
me
when do we hear the ruling?
besuros tovos
We should hear besuros tovos. he should just be home with his family already.
Rachel
AMEN. Mrs. Rubashkin, we should hear good news. We loved your inspiring words in Toronto a few months ago.
BRACHA GIVING YOU A BRACHA
HASHEM YERACHEM AND BECAUSE NISAN IS THE MONTH OF NISSIM THIS IS A DONE DEAL BY HASHEM BORUCH HU!
PLEASE HASHEM HAVE RACHMONUS ON YOUR SON SHALOM MORDECHAI HALEVI BEN RIVKAH NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OMEN VEOMEN KEIN YEHI ROTZON.
davan
we need a big ness
To #2
Do not put your trust in men, but in Hashem. Think of Yosef in prison…
minyaner
no offence, but he deserves it! he commited a crime, so why are we praying for his pardon or reduced sentence? dina demalchusa dina! he is a multi millionaire, yet asks the public to raise funds, while people barely have enough to eat! Just because someone is a frum Jew does NOT mean they should be let off, or that we should have to fund his appeals. DO HE CRIME, SERVE THE TIME!
zG
Dear #9 / Minyaner. You mentioned something about a crime.
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
The immigration charges and interruption of his regular business routine was the cause of his not being able to repay the banks on those shaky loans that he took out.
#1) HE WAS AQUITTED OF ALL IMMIGRATION CHARGES.
#2) HE WAS found guilty of the bank fraud charges that only came into play because he was deprived of his funds as a result of the FALSE immigration charges.
#3) As an honest re’payer of bank loans, the banks regularly cooperate with him and/or others knowing that they have the capital to back it up. Even if the loans weren’t 100% proper.
#4) IT was clearly a well planned attack driven by an antisemitic agenda coated with a combination of care for animals, workers, and financial institutions. Sadly, Some ill-informed secular jews mistakenly jumped on their bandwagon as well.
IN CONCLUSION: As US Senator Monihan once said:You’re entitled to your own opinions, Not Facts! PLEASE STUDY THE FACTS. And Enjoy the truth. Bye.
Did I really just read that?!
Dear Minyaner:
1) there are plenty of other websites out there that produce hate incited comments about Rubashkin – Go there. We dont need your drivel here.
2) Clearly YOU have never met SMR. If you did, you would be quickly looking for somewhere to bury your shameful self. How dare you talk like that! Especially about a man you know nothing about!
3) Do you know that SMR lost all his money? NO, you dont. You choose to spew hate and lies in the face of truth. You have taken yourself to a real deep low. That is very sad.
4) Have you ever been inside a Prison? No, I;m sure you havent (If you did, you most certainly deserved it!). I have been in a prison visiting Jewish prisoners. Who are you to decide who should suffer and for what crimes and to what level?
Were you in the courts? Did you see all the legal documents? Do you know the first thing about the American legal system? You dont know jack!
Do you know the first thing about decency? Sympathy? Having a kind heart? Helping another Jew? Again, sadly, it appears you dont know anything.
Put your tail between your legs, and shamefully walk away to the likes of failedmessiah and what not. we dont need you here.
KFP
crazy...
i hope they seriously deduct from his sentence but make it clear that he still committed and, which is a criminal act.
to #9
1) Do you not believe that the punishment should fit the crime? Is Rubashkin worse than violent murderers and rapists who get lesser sentences?
2) Rubashkin is far from being a multimillionaire. In fact he has nothing left but his fellow Jews who are looking out for their brother.
G.P
#9
I have got no words to say to you at all!
sf
#9 Ur a sicko
To Minyaner
You are so cruel. You have no soul. He did not steal or hurt anyone. All that he did was that he failed to declare his debt. I agree it is a crime in this country. But why did he do that? To b ale to continue paying all his emplyees.
Now I am sure if the feds were on your case with a microscop they will find things that you have done which are against the law. Did you ever buy something for cash?
The point here is that he got a very harsh sentence. For crime like that you sould not get more time than a rapist or a murderer etc.
Milhouse
#9, “minyaner”, you cannot be counted in a minyan. Vehagiv’onim lo mibnei ysisroel heimo. Sholom Rubashkin is a better Jew than you, and has certainly not done anything wrong. You parrot Aramaic words that you can’t translate and don’t understand, but that does not lend you any credibility.
Milhouse
#2, the who? What on earth is the “Return Chalker Man”, and in what way does he resemble Justice Thomas? Google was no help on this vital question.
Nobody
#9, your ignorance is showing.
Hey
minyaner, I did not know they let you have internet access in Creedmore.
SMR did not commit any crime. The only crime they can attach to him is of being too nice.
He needs to be released immediately and compensated for all the grief they caused him and his family.
Bsurot Tovot meeyad mamash.
Israel is one being
Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Bertichev write in Kdushas Levi on parshas shoftim that “שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך” means that the way in which we are the judges and policemen of others will cause the judgement and policing of ourselves. There are many other dictums which refute the world view which you espouse.
israel is one Being
“minyaner” writes “no offence” and then goes on to celebrate a Jew being in prison. Well, I find that offensive and I don’t see how that can be “no offence”.
Concentrating on Ahavas Yisroel
Please let us not make this about one person who doesn’t know better.
The bottom line is that we should ignore people who don’t know better, and keep davening and asking Hashem to work either b’derech hatevah or b’derech milmaaleh min hateva to get R’ SMR out of prison, and Bnei Yisroel in all out of this horrible golus.
MINYANER- A YID ?
IT IS INCOMPREHESIBLE THAT ANY JEW WOULD SPEW FORTH SUCH VENOMOUS SPITTLE. YOU MIGHT CONSIDER YOURSELF A FULL FLEDGED YID, BUT I WOULD RESEARCH YOUR ANCESTORY, AND I AM SURE THAT WITHOUT QUESTION A CROSS BREED OF NON-JEWISH BLOOD LURKS IN YOUR BACKGROUND. EVEN ASSUMING THAT YOUR MOTHER IS JEWISH, THE RABBONIM WOULD HAVE PERMITTED HER TO PRACTICE BIRTH CONTROL TO AVOID HAVING AN ISSUE OF YOUR NEFARIOUS CHARACTER ENSUE FORTH. SHOLOM MORDECHAI’S EMUNAH, EIDELKEIT, AND FOREBEARANCE OF WHAT HE IS SUFFERING THRU IS COMPARABLE TO WHAT YIDDEN SUFFERED UNDER COMMUNISM. MAY HASHEM GRANT ALL THAT IS NEEDED TO BRING HIM BACK TO US.-SD
graduation!
lol. they look like they are at their graduation. just missing the hats :)
to#9
yesherkoach! about time someone took the wool out of their ears and called a spade a spade!
where is the justice?
That Zimmerman guy in FLA killed a boy in cold blood,
and is walking free. Muslim murders are set free, only to terrorize again. Where is the justice???? This world is soooo crazy upside down!
Jack
Firstly……justice itself is an abstraction……completely devoid of reality. Second, to speak of justice and Jews in the same breath……is a logical absurdity. What happened to my previous post?
minyaner
Face it — the guy stole over $20Million, did not attempt to make restitution, did not cooperate with the court, violated the terms of his bail agreement, did not apologize for his unlawful activities … and the list goes on.
He should have taken the plea deal but then, he probably would have had to role over on his Father, Brother and the rest of the family.
BTW, there are people in Postville who are still hurting because of the damage this family did.
Fools!!!
Nobody
#29, your ignorance is still showing.
Milhouse
#29, the “minyaner” who is possul to be included in a minyan, Sholom did not steal a single cent. If he stole money, where is it? He did nothing wrong. He hired people who needed jobs; that is a mitzvah, no matter what the laws of the USA say. He was under no obligation, not even a legal one, to hire private detectives to investigate whether the papers they gave him were genuine. I’m sure he knew very well that many of them were not, but it was none of his business, even according to the law, and certainly according to the Torah. So he had every right to tell the bank that his business was running legally, or at least as legally as any other business in that sector, which the bank knew very well what that means. So there was no fraud either. He overestimated his ability to pay his loans, just like everybody does.
One thing is certain: when he comes before the Kisei Hakovod all the people he helped will come to testify for him. And when you come there, all those same people will come to testify AGAINST you. I would much rather be in his place than in yours.
what!!!!!!!!
#29 it is quite clear that your quite confused,
but please do us all a favor and keep your biased opinions to your self,even if you want to argue that rubashkin did something wrong and wasnt compleatlly set up and that he does deserve to do some time, it is still outrageous the sentence that he was givin when rapist and murderers do less time,
and as far as the postville comunety you obvioslly dont know much, the point is that when a yid is going therew rachmuna litzlan what rubashken is going therew becouse of injustice and anti semitisum who are you to say that he dosnt deserve our prayers and our finasiall support, the mitzva of pidyun shvoin is a very special mitzva and every yid should be honord to help out in the rubashkens case, i actuelly had the opertunety to go visit rabbi rubashken in prison and i can say what every one already knows aparentlly besides you, that he is a amzing person and a real frume chasidishe yid an deservs all the help we are giving him, and as far as your asesment of his money situation you are obvioslly misinformed, i think its time for you to realize that even if you are to confused and obvioslly not aware of the situation so take the hint and realize despit your stupidety everyone else (frume yidden) know the truth and dont let ant semitisome block there objective veiw, so even if your to stupid do us all a favor and stop posting your garbege on a lubavitch website and keep it to yourself
#32
would you mind writing in English?
thank you number 9
i am amazed this website posted number nine. i gave up trying to post something reasonable long ago.
i wish i had time to answer all the justifications for the support of Rubashkin – but i still have to convert my kitchen. let me just say that i know a friend of the lawyer that is doing the bankruptcy and have seen of the actual paper work involved. the Rubashkins laundered millions of dollars in the years before the raid. this kind of laundering is a preparation for bankruptcy. in other words, it was being planned long before the Rubashkins were busted.
if Rubashkin had accepted the plea bargain he would probably be a free man today. Rabbis who are experienced in this kind of thing told Rubashkin to accept the plea bargain. but the lawyers said no. and who benefited from the trial. why do people praise the lawyers. they took millions of dollars that could have been put to good use.
i do not wish a Jew to be in jail. and by now Sholom Mordechai actually thinks he is innocent. how can he do Tshuva if he does not think he is really guilty.
i just wish the community had not been corralled into thinking this was anti-semetism. The Rebbe didn’t scream anti-semetism. other Jews do. and most articles about Rubashkin are written by people (one woman in particular) who do not follow what the Rebbe says.
i wish the community had come out and said that financial crimes are wrong. and in America, they will catch you and you will sit in jail. and why just in America. the Talmud is the basis of western justice. it is the source of commercial law.
number nine supporter
what i don’t get is that now the Rubashkins are being praised for the Emunah. why did they have to do bank fraud and money laundering on such a large scale if they had Emunah?
if a parent needs a roof for their family… if he commits bank fraud to get a mortgage. that’s different from what Rubashkin did.
and btw – there are eighteen Chabad Houses implicated in the bank fraud. you can shoot the messenger – but it is not going to change the facts.
i have been to a sentencing of someone who was scapegoated by the Feds. he said he realizes he broke the law and he regrets it and will not do it again. he got minimum sentence. Rubashkin’s attitude is ‘give me more money and more lawyers and i am going to show this court a thing or two.’ he may have said that he realizes he made a mistake. but it is not what the court wants. the court does not want him in jail. they want him to realize that he has to follow the law. and in this case the message is not personal. he made it into a community wide case. so the entire community should be proclaiming that they know he wrong. but no. they keep saying the court system is wrong. good luck fighting the feds!
the curtain is rising
most Chabad websites have not allowed any comments that question the large scale campaign to support Rubashkin. i am pleased crownheights dot info is opening its forum.
i am not surprised people are responding so harshly. they are starting to realize they have been duped. its tough when you start to realize that maybe you were wrong.
Starcraft2
First of all, I support #9.
A Jew or Non-Jew… They commit a crime, they do the time. People are blinded by the fact that a person stole, yet alone a Jew. There are so many things that people don’t want to accept. Look at CH! There were these “thieves” stealing the innocence of young boys and girls – that’s right – MOLESTORS! Supposedly, this was going on for a long time, but the community condoned it till after a boy was kidnapped in BP. They took action! Exposing these offenders.
Rubashkin stole millions – “molested” the innocent and now asking for help and more money to bail him out of something he knew it was wrong in the first place??
Ha! Ya, right! I am a Jew, an American citizen, who lawfully works, pays taxes, and supports those… that’s right…. who steal from the government (Medicaid, food stamps, section 8)! I am tired of these claims that Rubashkin shouldn’t deserve his sentence. The goverment has every right to enforce consequences to those who committed a crime. We tax payers, are hard workers and don’t deserve to be “molested” by these thieves. You know who you are. I’ve seen you on Kingston… at Kol Tuv, using your Benefits card to pay for your groceries! Yet, your husband or wife drives a fancy car, and strolls around with a Bugaboo Stroller!! While, I don’t own a vehicle, or a fancy stroller that costs 1k and is not qualified to get Medicaid because of my income.
Rubashkin, YOU DESERVE TO BE IN JAIL AND THOSE WHO FOLLOW YOU!
the curtain is rising
the community should now be aware that if you step outside the law and enter into criminal territory, you are no longer in control. there are complaints of how SMR was treated and that his sentence is too long. the lesson is not that we have to raise more money and pay more lawyers… the lesson should be that if you do a criminal act – you can get caught – and if you get caught – you are in their control and they can do what they want. that’s how it is. you can talk about EMUNAH and UNITY. but at the end of the day – you go to sleep in your cell.
cult mentality
there is an article showing kids selling candy to raise money for the lawyers. nebach. these kids have been brain washed into equating Rubashkin to the Alter Rebbe. and if you say a word against Rubashkin in Crown Heights. its dangerous.
to # 37
unfortunately the community is so steeped in financial shenanigans – and sometimes crimes – they do not even know they are do something wrong. one lame excuse is that everybody does it. the UNITY that the Rubashkins speak about is the unification between ‘Frum’ communities in financial crimes. these communities cannot identify with the expulsion that happened in Hevron this week. they can’t identify. but when it comes to money crimes – there they can identify. they are unified. they stand as one. they give money because they want to preserve their assumed entitlement to financial crimes. you may find this creepy. i do.
Nobody
To #35, #36. I suggest some reading material. Try “three felonies a day – How the feds target the Innocent” by Harvey Silvergate.
#37, In addition to the above, I suggest a good book on projection (the psychological condition). You are just blaming Rubashkin for wrongs you have heard about others committing.
Daloy Entisemmitten Cultists!
When his house was raided police found a travel bag containing $20,000 in cash and the family’s passports. That sort of thing is always taken as prima fasciae evidence of intent to flee and does not indicate someone confident that his actions were above board and legal. SMR knew he broke the law, the evidence would be unimpeachable and he would suffer dearly if convicted.
Yashrus? Emunah peshutah? Hardly!
41 needs to read a book too.
It’s called “Pharaoh was not the only king of the Nile”
Nobody
#43, the expression is “The Nile is not just a river in Egypt” Even your quips are ignorant.
#42, prima fasciae doesn’t mean what you think it means. Anyway it is fully consistent with the actions of someone who thinks he is the target of a malicious prosecution where the actual question of his innocence won’t matter much.
Nobody knows nothing
“it is fully consistent with the actions of someone who thinks he is the target of a malicious prosecution…”
Or of someone who knows his his crimes have caught up with him. Prima facie = [Latin, On the first appearance.] A fact presumed to be true unless it is disproved. That quite aptly describes the circumstances of the cash and passports.
BTW, there have been several forms of that “Nile” quip over the years. The one I cite initially referenced Cleopatra but I updated it for the current season.
The one accusing others of ignorance is hopelessly ignorant himself!
to number 41
the American legal system is not perfect. there are activists who work towards making it better.
SMR may have been treated unfairly but once you cross the line into criminal territory it’s not sleep over camp. it happens that the Feds make mistakes and that people are treated unfairly. go read John Grisham’s The Innocent Man. its scary. but for the most part we should appreciate the American legal system.
the children in Crown Heights now believe it is as bad as it used to be in Russia. it is not fair to them that they are not taught to respect and appreciate how the legal system protects us and gives us freedom by locking up criminals. sometimes the criminals are Jewish. and sometimes innocent people get locked up. but as host counties go… America is the best. and the Rebbe wanted us to appreciate it.
the drivel that has come from Debbie Maimon and has been posted on Chabad websites, brainwashing unsuspecting readers, is clearly not the Rebbe’s message. the Rebbe wanted honesty. he did not scream anti-semetism. and he respected the courts.
Nobody
#45, yay, you can Google after the fact. It doesn’t fit the sentence the way you used it. And you still leap to the conclusion that it implies a guilty conscious.
#46, the comments I’m responding to are those that presume that the legal system must be right because it did what it did. If he was found guilty, he must actually be guilty (tell it to the innocence project) and if he was convicted of a crime, it must be that he did something really bad, and it never enters their empty heads that the punishment was extreme, or that the process was clearly corrupt *in this particular case*, not in the abstract of “is the American Legal system perfect.” Or that a corrupt process matters. Remember, if the Supreme Court lets this stand, then it is perfectly fine for judges to actively work on targeting citizens for prosecution, presiding on the case, and then passing sentence in the extreme. The Supreme Court has already said that a judge can sentence someone for a crime they were found not guilty of, as long as they were found guilty of *something*.
This was the case of a company person specifically targeted by prosecutors using trumped up charges (drugs etc.), using techniques, and laws, that are never used for a specific, vicious targeting, using a corrupt relationship with a judge (who decided the sentence – which is the most egregious part of the case – unilaterally), and the rather standard in the American system, technique of forcing witnesses to testify falsely to get them to plea bargain.
Call me old fashioned, but any witness who is told to testify against someone else or we will put you in jail for the crime is as reliable as a witness who was paid for the testimony. That is standard operating procedure in the American court system every single day.
No, it is nothing like Russia. But it is not OK, and objecting to it is not like supporting child molesters (#37 above).
I guess if a conservative is a liberal who is mugged, a civil libertarian is a conservative who was mugged by the government.
number 47 - i hear you
do you think SMR was totally innocent?
do you think his case warrants teaching American children to disrespect the court system?
you mention Innocence Project. did SMR approach them? what was their response?
have you read the sentencing? i got it online. i don’t know if it is still available.
have you been to Iowa? do you know about the mentality of places like Iowa? it is not NYC where they field this kind this kind of thing on a regular basis.
i have seen the papers implicating more than a dozen Chabad Houses of money laundering for Rubashkin. i even sent a copy to the Chabad websites. but it was not publicized.
Consider all the facts
Six attorney general wrote about the injustice of the harsh sentence for a first time non violent white collar criminal, are you deliberately ignoring this fact?