DES MOINES, IA — In a legal argument called “astounding and very troublesome,” a federal prosecutor has argued that Israel’s Law of Return makes American Jews a flight risk and therefore ineligible for bail.
The claim, believed to be unprecedented, came in the bank fraud case of Sholom Rubashkin, the former Jewish head of the embattled Iowa kosher slaughterhouse, Agriprocessors, Inc.
Feds Argue Every Jew is a Flight Risk
DES MOINES, IA — In a legal argument called “astounding and very troublesome,” a federal prosecutor has argued that Israel’s Law of Return makes American Jews a flight risk and therefore ineligible for bail.
The claim, believed to be unprecedented, came in the bank fraud case of Sholom Rubashkin, the former Jewish head of the embattled Iowa kosher slaughterhouse, Agriprocessors, Inc.
And the federal judge in the case, Magistrate Jon Stuart Scoles, cited the Law of Return in his Nov. 20 decision denying Rubashkin bail.
“Under Israel’s Law of Return, any Jew and members of his family who have expressed their desire to settle in Israel will be granted citizenship,” the judge wrote, adding that the government had claimed that at least one other Agriprocessors’ defendant had already fled to Israel.
Rubashkin’s lawyers wrote in their appeal filed last Friday: “It is ironic that a law designed to provide refuge to persecuted Jews has now become the basis for detaining a Jew who might otherwise have been released pending trial.”
Deborah Lauter, director of the civil rights office of the Anti-Defamation League, said the prosecution’s “referencing the Law of Return is highly unusual.”
Marc Stern, acting co-executive director of the American Jewish Congress, called the move “very troublesome.”
“All Jews are suspect because of the Law of Return?” he asked. “It’s a very astounding and troubling argument. It’s different from saying he might run to Israel — whether or not there is a Law of Return.”
Stern said the government’s argument is “probably impermissible, but it’s hard to say without being more closely involved. … I think it’s an argument that’s too aggressive and I think they need to justify it by evidence that I can’t imagine them producing.”
In last Friday’s legal papers, defense attorneys for Rubashkin asked Scoles to reconsider his decision. And, in order to preserve their right to appeal, they also filed papers with federal District Court Judge Linda Reade in the event Scoles does not grant Rubashkin bail.
Defense attorneys F. Montgomery Brown and Guy Cook argued in their papers that the U.S. has an extradition treaty with Israel and that therefore “the Law of Return should have played no role whatsoever in the analysis.”
They noted that when they argued that position in court, the office of U.S. Attorney Matt M. Dummermuth countered by insisting that the extradition process “could take years.” And the prosecutor also introduced a copy of the Law of Return.
The defense attorneys said their research “has not uncovered a single instance involving a Jewish criminal defendant where the prosecution invoked the Law of Return in support of detention.”
And they quoted an attorney with years of experience in the Brooklyn and Manhattan federal district courts as saying he too could “recall no instance where the prosecutor invoked the Law of Return in arguing that an American Jew is a bail risk.”
Bob Teig, a spokesman for Dummermuth’s office, said the defense papers were filed last Friday and that “we have had no chance to file a response.”
Asked if the defense’s characterization of the government’s argument was correct, he replied: “The judge’s order speaks for itself.”
Laura Sweeney, a Justice Department spokesperson, said when asked about the prosecutor’s argument, “This is an ongoing matter and therefore the department declines comment.”
In their request to deny bail after his second arrest in November — he had been arrested in October on charges alleging that he hired illegal workers for his plant — prosecutors noted that Rubashkin had $20,000 in his home, much of it in a travel bag that also contained his birth certificate and his children’s passports; he has 10 children. He and his wife surrendered their passports after Rubashkin’s first arrest.
One of Rubashkin’s lawyers, Baruch Weiss of New York, acknowledged the cash was in the house but said that much of it was in one-dollar bills that had been collected for charity. And he said the rest was used to pay expense. He noted that a $1,700 car bill had recently been paid in cash.
Rubaskin’s Iowa defense team contended in their papers that in “the prosecutors’ view, anyone subject to the Law of Return is an increased flight risk. Consequently, under that view, ‘every Jew’ is to be viewed for bail purposes as a greater risk of flight than a non-Jew. That means that 5.3 million Americans would be viewed as heightened bail risks simply because they are Jews.”
They pointed out that would include Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff and two U.S. Supreme Court Justices, Steven Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
In their papers, the defense lawyers said the extradition treaty the U.S. has with Israel “has always been workable,” and that after recent amendments it is “now better than workable.”
“It applies to everyone, Jews and non-Jews,” they said. “It even applies to Israelis. This treaty will ensure that Rubashkin — even if he were to become a citizen of Israel under the Law of Return — will be returned to the United States, tried in the United States and if convicted, that he will serve any sentence in the United States. Were he to flee to Israel, he would be detained pending extradition. Because of this treaty, the Law of Return is irrelevant.”
In addition, the defense lawyers said that by denying Rubashkin bail, the court was denying him the constitutional right to equal protection.
“Jews are a protected class for Equal Protection purposes,” they wrote. “Thus, singling Jews out in any way when determining bail is unconstitutional…
“The government has failed to demonstrate a compelling government interest in a rule that implicates all Jews, and has failed to demonstrate that its interest here cannot be met with a more narrowly tailored approach. … The government introduced no evidence that Jews are more likely to flee because of the Law of Return than non-Jews.”
The defense lawyers concluded that “rather than locking Jews up with greater frequency, the United States could rely on a general array of bail conditions, and then utilize the valid, streamlined, regularly-invoked extradition treaty with Israel in those few cases where the defendant actually flees. Certainly it is better to have the government on rare occasions be forced to resort to this streamlined extradition than to brand over 5 million Americans a bail risks. … Otherwise, the government slurs Americans because of a law passed by a foreign country over which these Americans have no control and which they may have no desire to invoke.”
very very scary!
Now THAT’S scary!!!… terrifying actually. I think it’s time to get our papers in order and get ready to go!
abe
Blame crazy Eddie Antar and the guy that hit the kid on the bicycle that started the CH riots and others that ran to Israel for protection.
Sorry but let’s get real looking back in history the federal prosecutor has a good case to present of previous Jewish flight.
38 yr in the hood
abe get yr facts sr8 … lipsh in 91 waited for the court to free him of all charges , then he went back to his home in israel, it was a clear acident , antar was diffrent , he ran , and was brought back under the agrement with us and israel, yr just talking from 2kas ,,jew hater
logic
The fact that a handful of Jews have sought haven from prosecution does not mean that ALL Jews are a flight risk. That’s like saying, “there are some Jews who have abused children, therefore we can’t allow any Jews to be teachers because they might be child abusers”.
Big Moishe
Abe,
If you think its right to label all jews as criminals, what if they said becuase 90% inmates are blacks in the usa so all blacks are criminals!
The only reason they are doing this is because the HATE jews and jews let them get away with it. Time to stand up Macabees!
Inda Know
Crazy Eddie, maybe. But Lisp returned to Israel only AFTER he was exonerated by a grand jury (at which he voluntarily testified)!
levi
abe, he ran for his life, not from the law. that’s the point of the law of return, that we can run there for our lives (if need be c’v) but it’s not there to run from the gov.
are you saying that you should be denied bail as well? you’re jewish, aren’t you?
38 yr in the hood
abe !!!! u dont have yr facts right ,the driver of that station wagon , waited in boro park 4 the clearing of his name b/4 he went on that plane back to his home in israel.
i can see yr haterd , and 4 edward antar , u can see the conction between the usa and israel , he was brought back
like said get yr facts b/4 u post mr. hate
happy
abe. look in history the jew is not the only ones. you jew hater.
Jack
Abe: Neither of those two people went through extradition proceedings. Had they, they would probably be in US prison.
Meir Lansky and Jonathan Pollard are two high profile cases of people who tried to use the Law of Return and failed. Lansky was deported to the US anyway and Pollard was turned over to the FBI from the Israeli embassy.
!!!
although there have A FEW cases of such an occurance, and it MAY happen again. It is discrimination and unfair to make a specific law for a selected 5 million people just on the basis that some jews MIGHT flee to israel.
communist usa
This sounds liike communist Russia.
Leo
Not so fast Abe – Eddie Antar was in fact returned to the US in accordance with the extradition treaty between the US and Israel and served time in jail. It’s a very sad commentary on justice in America when a judge denies bail on the basis of a law from a foreign country that’s meant to protect jews from persecution in other countries. The ‘Law of Return’is just a poor excuse, for the lack of a better one, to deny someone bail who’s in fact a perfect candidate for bail. Shame on the USofA.
to abe:
that guy was an Israeli Citizen. No different than a French, cnadian british or what have you
chm
actually running to Israel for protection from civilians is fine, its only a problem if its from the law.
Feigie
Seems like a sign from Hashem….we should all make aliyah.
Easier said than done for most folks.
CN
To self-hating Abe.
Look up the facts before you write. While “crazy Eddie Antar” did flee to Israel, he was returned by Israel less than 3 years later to stand trial.
The “guy that hit the kid” (Gavin Cato) just before the Crown Heights riots did not run to Israel to hide from criminal prosecution. To the contrary, he appeared before a grand jury in Kings County and was not indicted. Being that he was not charged with a crime he obviously did not flee ciminal prosecution.
What the government has done in citing Israel’s law of return in Rubashkin’s case as a factor in treating a Jew differently and denying bail is not only not legal. It’s outrageous. Clear and simple.
Smells like 1939 all over again
Your Tax dollars at work
I wonder would this arguement apply to every American of Irish decent? (Ireland has a similar program to grant citizenship to the decendants of those who fled during the great famiine)
How about the many Americans who legally hold mopre than one passport and/or dual citizenship in a variety of countries?
This arguement is an outrage, an afront to every American and especially to every Jew.
After being shocked and appalled that I now live in a country that singles out Jews for persecution, I almost have to laugh because these same people would be happy to see all the Jews in America go (back) to Israel
Ever been to Des Moines? I feel sorry for any Jews living there.
roses
Isn’t this a clear case of bias? In the U.S.A., THE paragon of democracy, how can a judicial ruling be based on religioun?
Even IF chas v’shalom R’ Sholom committed a crime, axe murderers cannot be denied bail because of race, color, etc…even if there’s evidence he or she will flee the country.
It seems that right now, that this is the crux of the matter to release SMR on bail, especially since they moved the trial to Septemeber. Ad Mosai! In every sense.
We have to daven that his lawyers are experts and the right shlichim from Hashem.
Its nice to see suce care and concern.
Dear Mr. Abe Thank you ever so much for your kind words in favor and help of a fellow Jew, your Ahavas Yisroel is commendable. (By the riots thank G-d he ran away. the government was most definitely incapable of protecting him from rioters they could not protect the rest of us.) BTW there is no mitzva to post…
boruch n. hoffinger
B”H
“It is ironic that a law designed to provide refuge to persecuted Jews has now become the basis for detaining a Jew who might otherwise have been released pending trial.”
The logical conclusion of this ‘intelligent’ finding, that Jews are a ‘bail risk’ because of The Law of Return is to tear down The Statue of Liberty
The statue it welcomes and induces foreigners to live in America. Foreign national criminals might flee to their own countries. Tearing down the statue would make things easier for the government, no? Save money also!
Therefore all foreign nationals (Millions!) are a ‘bail risk?’
The Statue of Liberty is the equivalent of The Law of Return.
essencegraphics2@aol.com
Shimon
Abe, so if I follow your logic, all Jews are suspect gangsters because of Bugsy Siegel, and all Christians are suspect cannibals because of Jeffrey Dahmer???
Abe doesnt know his facts
Eddie Antar fled to Israel, but was returned to the United States to stand trial. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and paid large fines. He was released from prison in 1999.
jewish mafia
sorry abe. Israel is not ready to risk high profile cases take the case of meyer lansky boss of murder inc
During the 1970s, Lansky fled to Herzliya Pituah, Israel, to escape federal tax evasion charges. Two years later, Israel deported Lansky back to the U.S.
...............
sooooo…..the anti semitism is rearing its ugly head again,like early yemach shemom days. like taking up a bit of a second parking space is called jew parking .and how come the governor of illinois got out on bail in 2 seconds, and obama didn’t know anything about it, and his first agenda is mending american relations with the muslims. Yidalach, our goldene Yaren in Ameritchka are over, and we have to start crying and begging the Aibershter from the depths of our heart and soul PLEASE SEND MOSHIACH NOW!!!!!
duh.
of course we are a flight risk, because everyone can just go back to occupied Palestine…the cops aren’t stupid.
Moishie
For the record posters are twisting and adding words to my post.
I did not say ALL Jews are flight risks and should be denied bail of course that would be illegal and unconstitutional.
However considering his serious charges and the bag they found with the money and passports and the length of time extradition takes, I could understand why a federal prosecutor could be persuaded to ASK a judge to deny bail.
IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT THE JUDGE SHOULD GRANT HIS REQUEST..YES! IT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
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in iowa this i am the law
i think all of you guys are just not americans .
where did come from ?
here in iowa this is the law
yes in new york or california the law is what in the book.
but here in iowa an ex farmer makes the law .
this judge in new york would be serving time for being
member of the kkk but in iowa he makes the laws.
obama is the hope of america to send all this bigets in
the federal government back to germany where thy belong.