December 6, 2007
Constitution trumps all for ‘house Bolshevik’ Einhorn
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Over the following two decades, attempts to denaturalize the L.A. 8 and have them deported stalled as the basis for the government's argument shifted from statute to statute, and several times rulings were issued in the defendants' favor. But each time an appeals court overruled or the government returned with new legislation under which to deport Hamide and Shehadeh.Einhorn, who dismissed the case in mid-2001 only to receive it again after the passage of the Patriot Act, broke the cycle with his ruling last January, in which he scolded the government for a "gross failure" to turn over any evidence that may have exonerated the accused.
The government formally dropped the case against Hamide and Shehadeh in late October, promising not to try to strip them of legal residency if the two, who live in L.A. and the Bay Area, respectively, agreed not to apply for citizenship for three years.
"I view the PFLP with complete contempt. However, when I took my oath as a federal judge, I swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States," Einhorn said. "As a judge, I made it my business to park my politics at the courthouse steps; I expect every judge to do the same. Therefore, I did not allow my Zionism, or my religious or political preferences, to interfere with my legal responsibilities."
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