Jim’s Rant For The Day. Civil Procedure.

One of the first classes an attorney takes in law school is Civil Procedure. It is a case law view of how our courts operate. Now grant you that it is concerned only with civil suits such as contracts or divorces, but the flow is also a sneak preview of Criminal Procedure.

The first two chapters deal with Jurisdiction, that is does the court have the right to hear this case based on its subject matter, geographical location and historical timing (Statute of Limitations). This is similar in criminal law. But the criminal system then adds the same tests to the prosecutor’s case before proceeding.

This test is what was in question Friday afternoon in the Paul Manafort case. Simply put, the judge points out that the original “Investigative Scope” given to Mueller did not give the Prosecution jurisdiction authority to prosecute the Manafort case. And this is where it got interesting.

The Prosecution informed the Judge that they received a secret Scope the Judge is unaware of. When asked to show it to the court the Judge was told it was classified and therefore the judge could not see it but should just assume it exists. This is tantamount to telling the Judge to screw himself, the DOJ is more important than the Court and does does not have to answer to it.

What the above paragraph says is tantamount to the DOJ telling, in court mind you, that the DOJ does not have to answer to the people or the people's law as they are above us; the DOJ is above justice. Just let that sink in.