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Wednesday, March 27, 2024 | Back issues
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US approach to punishing Capitol rioters slammed as ‘schizophrenic’ by chief federal judge

The rebuke came as the judge bemoaned her inability to make one rioter face prison time when the government has only recommended probation for so many other similarly situated defendants. 

WASHINGTON (CN) — Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell presided Thursday over her first sentencing related to the Jan. 6 insurrection, attempting at the 2 1/2-hour hearing to get a grasp on what she labeled as vast disparities in the government’s sentencing recommendations for Capitol rioters. 

“No wonder parts of the public are confused about whether it was a petty offense of trespassing or shocking misconduct which threatened our democratic norm,” the judge balked with audible exasperation. “No wonder.” 

Throughout the proceeding, Howell pressed Justice Department attorneys on how they determine when jail time is appropriate and when it is not for the same charge, and why they use such severe rhetoric when they only end up charging defendants with low-level charges. Howell had requested a written analysis of the Justice Department’s reasoning before the hearing. 

“You use very strong language for a defendant who pleaded guilty to a petty offense … and the government isn’t even asking for the maximum sentence,” Howell said, quoting a Justice Department court filing that refers to Jan. 6 as “a criminal offense unparalleled in American history” and “a chaotic and dangerous attack on our democracy.”

Such bombast notwithstanding, Howell continued, the government still hands out Class B misdemeanor plea deals that make rioters appear as mere trespassers. 

“How am I supposed to reconcile this extraordinarily strong rhetoric with a petty offense charge? Seems like a disconnect,” Howell said. “This, I suspect, is what many Americans are wondering too.”

In the case of Jack Jesse Griffith, who appeared before Howell on Thursday, the government recommended three months in prison, citing Griffith’s supposed lack of remorse. But Griffith pleaded guilty to the same misdemeanor plea — parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building — that the government has handed out to dozens of nonviolent rioters, and, oftentimes, prosecutors only recommend a probationary sentence. 

“The government’s reasons are almost schizophrenic,” Howell said, channeling the frustrations of many Americans, who can’t seem to make sense of the Justice Department’s reasoning. 

The charging papers against Griffith, who also goes by Juan Bibiano, allege that he “screamed in excitement” going into the Capitol, and afterward told a local Fox News affiliate station that viewers should check out a video game he built in which the superhero, Trump, shoots monsters, who are Antifa.

“He used his arrest as a badge of honor to fundraise, to promote his social media accounts, and to bring attention to a video game he is creating,” the government argued. “Jack Griffith will not be deterred unless he is faced with a custodial sentence.”

Justice Department attorney Mitra Jafary-Hariri told Howell that Griffith used inflammatory language and continued to post on Facebook about the riot for several weeks. 

“We go into a great deal of depth,” Jafary-Hariri told Howell. “We are considering individuals at levels of depth.” 

Griffith expressed remorse to Howell about his participation in the attempted coup, telling her that it was an impulsive decision, a comment that Howell pressed back on. 

“I have a hard time believing that it was simply impulsive or uninformed,” Howell said, noting that Griffith drove from Tennessee to Washington. “You were not a good guy or a patriot on Jan. 6.”

Howell also expressed confusion at why the government was only requiring rioters to pay $500 in restitution — what she called “a drop in the bucket” of costs related to the crimes of Jan. 6.

The Justice Department estimates that it will cost around $1.5 million to repair the Capitol, but Howell noted that Congress appropriated $562 million in emergency security funds after Jan. 6 — an amount that doesn’t include medical costs for police. 

At this rate, Howell predicted, the department would only recover around $300,000 from rioters. Prosecutors noted that rioters with felony charges must pay $2,000. 

The judge said prosecutors have “tied her hands” which it comes to restitution for low-level misdemeanants, and there is a “big legal question” and “dark cloud" on whether she has the sentencing option to give a Class B misdemeanant what is known as a split sentence — meaning it includes both prison and probation. 

“There is a lack of clarity in how much the government really supports the position it has articulated,” Howell said. “In all my years on the bench I’ve never been in this position before. This is all due to the government — who, despite calling it the crime of the century — is resolving it with a petty offense.”

Howell sentenced Griffith to three years of probation, noting that the government tied her hands by giving Griffith a petty offense and recommending probation for other similarly situated defendants.

Fellow Jan. 6 rioters Robert Ballesteros and Jeffrey Alexander Smith pleaded guilty Thursday to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Ballesteros, of upstate New York, posted a video of himself in the U.S. Capitol on Instagram, while Smith, a retired Army veteran living with his parents in San Diego, removed a barricade in front of the Capitol and spent about 30 minutes inside. 

Both could be sentenced up to six months in prison but will likely receive a far lighter sentence.  

Categories / Criminal, National, Politics

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