LAW OFFICES OF GEOFFREY D. MUELLER, LLC

Per The Legal Intelligencer:

"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that a Craigslist posting in which a man wished death on a police officer constituted a threat under federal law."

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"According to the opinion by Judge D. Michael Fisher, the indictment alleged Stock had posted a statement on Craigslist that read, verbatim, 'i went home loaded in my truck and spend the past 3 hours looking for this douche with the expressed intent of crushing him in that little piece of shit under cover gray impala hooking up my tow chains and dragging his stupid ass down to creek hills and just drowning him in the falls. but alas i can't fine that bastard anywhere ... i really wish he would die, just like the rest of these stupid fucking asshole cops. so J.K.P. if you read this i hope you burn in hell. i only wish i could have been the one to send you there.'"

Full article after the jump...

Per The Asbury Park Press:

"Gov. Chris Christie says he's not renominating Associate Justice Helen Hoens to the state Supreme Court, blaming Democratic senators for the current political standoff over the high court.

"Christie is instead nominating Superior Court Judge Faustino Fernandez-Vina, the assignment judge in the Camden County vicinage. He said his 20-minute, Monday morning conversation with Hoens was one of the most difficult he has had as governor but that Senate Democrats forced his hand when they telegraphed they might deny Hoens tenure as additional retribution for Christie’s 2010 decision, then unprecedented, not to renominate a sitting justice, John Wallace.

“'The conduct of the Senate has gone to an all-time low,' Christie said.

“'I watched the Democrats play hardball with Phil Kwon. I watched them play hardball with Bruce Harris and do everything that they could to ruin the professional reputations of two outstanding lawyers and public servants,' said Christie, referring to two of his Supreme Court nominees who were rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee — which was also unprecedented.

“'I simply refused to allow them to do it to a third,' Christie said. 'And so I told Justice Hoens this morning that I was not going to permit the political vengeance of the majority of the Senate to cast a pall over her otherwise outstanding judicial career. Let me be clear: Helen Hoens deserved renomination. She deserved tenure.'”

More after the jump (emphasis added)...

With credit to NorthJersey.com:

In a move that likely surprised very few, the "U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned an August acquittal by a New York U.S. District Court of defendant Lawrence DiCristina that had been made because of a finding that “Texas Hold ‘Em” poker was not covered by the Illegal Gambling Business Act."

“Today’s decision by the 2nd Circuit Court, while unfortunate, only adds to the growing call for federal clarity on the definition of gambling,” said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance. “The 2nd Circuit clearly did not dispute the district court’s finding that poker is a game of skill. This is a key point distinguishing poker from the types of gambling games that Congress and state legislatures have often tried to prohibit. What the court did was conclude that the IGBA does not set forth an independent federal definition of gambling, but instead only incorporates state law."

Link to complete blog and decision below...