Tallahassee U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mark Eaton Walker is one of the finest federal judges in Florida, and America. He has repeatedly worked diligently to enforce the Rule of Law in First Amendment and other cases involving civil and constitutional rights.
A guilty plea was entered in a case where a Raiford prison inmate wrote, signed and mailed Judge walker a death threat.
Is that news?
Yes.
Did our U.S. Department of Justice press release writers and Florida journalists cover it properly.
Nope.
The DOJ and Florida news media didn't even release the name of the federal judge whom the Raiford inmate threatened.
Why?
Defendant CURTIS BROWN, the Raiford prison inmate was due to be released in 2034, convicted of drug trafficking charges.
Then BROWN wrote, signed and mailed written threats to kill U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mark Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. BROWN is now in federal custody.
Queries:
Did BROWN, the Raiford inmate who has now pled guilty to the crime anticipate getting a nicer prison and a friendlier cellmate if he committed a federal crime?
Does BROWN's case create a precedent for all state prison inmates to threaten federal judges to be transferred to federal prisons?
Should a Florida state prison inmate be "entitled" to a transfer to a federal prison imply by threatening a federal official?
Stay tuned.
The simple, baby-talking USDOJ press release on the guilty plea oddly omitted Judge Walker's name and also omitted the full name of the inmate who threatened the life of Judge Mark E. Walker. There are lots of CURTIS BROWNS out there -- how clumsy of USDOJ and AP to bring charges and obtain guilty pleas without using the full name of the actual guilty party.
So did every single news report on this case.
That's sloppy press release writing by USDOJ.
That's slopping reporting by jaded North Florida journalists.
The April 28, 2022 Grand Jury indictment likewise uses only Judge Walker's initials, M.W.
If we had more sophisticated, inquiring and resourceful reporters who knew how to use PACER, the federal court database, we'd have more thorough coverage of federal courts in Florida. Is that too much to ask? AP: it wouldn't take much effort to instruct your lazy reporters on legal research.
But the prevailing attitude among certain dim, docile, dumbed-down, non-investigative Florida news editors and reporters is, "let 'em eat press releases." (Especially, evidently when the press releases emanate from what Professor Michael Tigar calls, "The Department that calls itself 'Justice.'" Compare the AP article with the USDOJ press release, here:
From USDOJ:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
State Prisoner Pleads Guilty To Threatening To Kill Federal Judge
Jacksonville, Florida –United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Curtis Brown (35, Raiford) has pleaded guilty to threatening to murder a federal judge in retaliation for performing his official duties and mailing a letter to a federal judge threatening to kill the judge and his family. Brown faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison on each count. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to court documents, Brown was in the Florida State Prison in Raiford serving a state sentence when he sent a letter dated November 30, 2021, to a federal judge’s chambers. The letter was handwritten, addressed to the judge from Brown, and indicated it was sent in retaliation. The letter stated that the judge’s “recent refusal to grant warranted relief” gave Brown no other choice but to use his federal stimulus money to pay for someone to kill the judge. Brown stated that if he could not get to the judge in time, he would settle for a member of the judge’s family. The letter was signed by Brown and beneath his signature was a statement that the letter better stay between them, or it would get worse.
This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kirwinn Mike and Ashley Washington.
From AP/Florida Politics:
Florida inmate pleads guilty to threatening federal judge. (AP/Florida Politics)
Curtis Brown wrote he would use stimulus money to pay for a hit, records show.
A Florida state prison inmate faces up to 10 years in federal prison for threatening to kill a federal judge and his family.
Curtis Brown, 35, pleaded guilty Tuesday, Dec. 27, in Jacksonville federal court to threatening to murder a federal judge in retaliation for performing his official duties and mailing a threatening letter, according to court records.
A sentencing date wasn’t immediately set.
According to court documents, Brown was serving a sentence for drug trafficking in the Florida State Prison in Raiford in November 2021 when he sent a handwritten letter to a federal judge’s chambers. The letter stated the judge’s “recent refusal to grant warranted relief” gave Brown no other choice but to use his federal stimulus money to pay for someone to kill the judge.
The letter stated if Brown could not get to the judge in time, then Brown would settle for a member of the judge’s family, prosecutors said. The letter was signed by Brown, and beneath his signature was a statement the letter better stay between them, or it would get worse.
Brown was sentenced to prison in 2006 after being convicted of multiple drug charges. Florida Department of Corrections records show he was supposed to be released from state prison in 2034.
1 comment:
That's sad when the state prison is so dangerous and appalling that you feel you'd rather get 10 more years in a federal prison than stay there another 10 years. Republicans are responsible for the corruption and human rights violations in Florida prisons. Working for the Department of Corrections could be a coveted job if Florida government saw incarcerated people as human beings and took corrections seriously but they don't! Look at prisons in more advanced democracies and societies and tell me why things can't be like that in America.
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