Joe Baker
@joethepro.bsky.social
Music. Sports. Humor. More Music. Sarcasm. That’s all, maybe.
Scenes from Summer 2025
August 27, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Scenes from Summer 2025
Meet the new boss.
Same as the old boss.
Same as the old boss.
April 2, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Meet the new boss.
Same as the old boss.
Same as the old boss.
Judging by my DoorDash orders, February really sucks.
February 19, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Judging by my DoorDash orders, February really sucks.
Reposted by Joe Baker
Pamela Hemphill was sentenced to 60 days in prison and three years of probation for her role in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. She did not want a pardon because she said it would be “an insult to the Capitol Police.”
Jan. 6 Defendant Shuns Trump’s Pardon, Likening ‘Stop the Steal’ to a ‘Cult’
Pamela Hemphill, 71, of Boise, Idaho, who served 60 days in prison, said it would be “an insult to the Capitol Police” if she accepted the pardon.
www.nytimes.com
January 22, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Pamela Hemphill was sentenced to 60 days in prison and three years of probation for her role in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. She did not want a pardon because she said it would be “an insult to the Capitol Police.”
Reposted by Joe Baker
Former DC District Court Chief Judge Beryl Howell’s disgusted response to DOJ’s January 6th dismissals and Trump’s EO is well worth reading. ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...
![II.
DISCUSSION
Courts have limited power when the federal government decides to stop prosecuting a
criminal defendant. See, e.g., Wayte v. United States, 470 U.S. 598, 607-08 (1985) (recognizing
the government's broad prosecutorial discretion); United States v. Fokker Servs. B.V., 818 F.3d
733, 742 (D.C. Cir. 2016) (recognizing same prosecutorial discretion in "decisions to dismiss
pending criminal charges"). At the same time, the Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit have both
recognized that the "leave of court" requirement in Rule 48(a) "obviously vest[s] some discretion
in the court." Rinaldi v. United States, 434 U.S. 22, 29 n.15 (1977); United States v. Ammidown,
497 F.2d 615, 620 (D.C. Cir. 1973) (noting that this rule "gives the court a role in dismissals
following indictment"). This discretion is granted in part to "guard[] against abuse of prosecutorial
discretion." Ammidown, 497 F.2d at 620. To ensure that the government's request for dismissal
of criminal charges "sufficiently protects the public," the government may be required to submit
"a statement of reasons and underlying factual basis," which must be "substantial" to justify the
dismissal and not "a mere conclusory statement." Id.
Here, the government's cursory motion provides no factual basis for dismissal. Instead,
the single paragraph explanation included in the one-page dismissal motion cites "as the reason
for this dismissal," only a presidential proclamation "dated January 20, 2025, Granting Pardons and Commutation of Sentences for Certain Offenses Relating to the Events at Or Near the United
States Capitol on January 6, 2021." Gov't's MTD at 1. This cited proclamation, inter alia, directs
4](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:on5oeywiqx32fh2zau473wz6/bafkreifmm6l73aqb76kwvm7hjm2lktuldk323auvvn26pdwl2tl5ohwhyy@jpeg)
![the Attorney General "to pursue [the] dismissal with prejudice to the government of all pending
indictments against individuals for their conduct related to the events at or near the United States
Capitol on January 6, 2021." See PROCLAMATION, (Jan. 20, 2025) (capitalization in original), available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-
commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-
states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/. The only reason provided for this instruction, as set out in the
Proclamation's introduction, is the assertion that this action "ends a grave national injustice that
has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of
national reconciliation." Id.
No "national injustice" occurred here, just as no outcome-determinative election fraud
occurred in the 2020 presidential election. No "process of national reconciliation" can begin when
poor losers, whose preferred candidate loses an election, are glorified for disrupting a
constitutionally mandated proceeding in Congress and doing so with impunity. That merely raises
the dangerous specter of future lawless conduct by other poor losers and undermines the rule of
law. Yet, this presidential pronouncement of a "national injustice" is the sole justification provided in the government's motion to dismiss the pending indictment. See Gov't's MTD.
Having presided over scores of criminal cases charging defendants for their criminal
conduct both outside and inside the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, which charges were
fully supported by evidence in the form of extensive videotapes and photographs, admissions by
defendants in the course of plea hearings and in testimony at trials, and the testimony of law
enforcement officers and congressional staff present at the Capitol on that day, this Court cannot
let stand the revisionist myth relayed in this presidential pronouncement. The pr…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:on5oeywiqx32fh2zau473wz6/bafkreibgbtel7gp4peaytmex5bhpf7qsjcwhkdistki4pnfsimksh5wvoe@jpeg)
![Nothing about the government's reasoning for dismissal warrants entry of dismissal with
prejudice, however. Dismissal with prejudice is a complete adjudication of the matter and would
bar any further prosecution of defendants for their offense conduct at issue. See Bd. of Trs. of the
Hotel & Rest. Emps. Local 25 v. Madison Hotel, Inc., 97 F.3d 1479, 1489 n.20 (D.C. Cir. 1996);
Brown v. Amtrak Corp., No. 03-7003, 2003 WL 22433755, at *1 (D.C. Cir. Oct. 27, 2023) (*A
dismissal 'with prejudice' is a final judgment on the merits which bars further litigation between
the same parties." (citing Madison Hotel, 97 F.3d at 1489 n.20)); Reed v. Farley, 512 U.S. 339, 368 (1994) (Blackmun, J., dissenting) ("The dismissal with prejudice of criminal charges is a
remedy rarely seen in criminal law, even for constitutional violations."). This result would be
improper here, particularly when defendants' own admissions of criminal conduct, including
throwing smoke bombs at law enforcement officers who were trying valiantly to prevent rioters
from entering the Capitol Building, provides ample basis for criminal prosecution. See also Thorp
v. District of Columbia, 142 F. Supp. 3d 132, 145 (D.D.C. 2015) (noting that dismissal with prejudice "reflect[s] on the merits of the underlying action" (quoting Brown v. Carr, 503 A.2d
1241, 1245 (D.C. Cir. 1986), and citing Kenley v. District of Columbia, 83 F. Supp. 3d 20, 42 (D.D.C. 2015)). Instead, the government's reliance on a policy assertion made in the presidential
proclamation that such prosecutions should not be continued warrants only "render[ing] the
proceedings a nullity and leav[ing] the parties as if the action had never been brought," Magliore
v. Brooks, 844 F. Supp. 2d 38, 46 (D.D.C. 2012) (quoting Thoubboron, 809 A.2d at 1210), which is achieved by granting the government's motion to dismiss without prejudice, see id.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:on5oeywiqx32fh2zau473wz6/bafkreidaaz7ikwkvhzuasjl7wfgzj54d7acgrgsmd2ve47irkq7cu2pimq@jpeg)
January 22, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Former DC District Court Chief Judge Beryl Howell’s disgusted response to DOJ’s January 6th dismissals and Trump’s EO is well worth reading. ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...
Hoping for a rematch of the 1992 SB.
January 20, 2025 at 3:22 AM
Hoping for a rematch of the 1992 SB.
Willamette River at dawn.
January 19, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Willamette River at dawn.
Weekend trip to San Fran was awesome!
December 5, 2024 at 5:33 AM
Weekend trip to San Fran was awesome!
So, the Dollar(.25) Tree is about to become the Dollar(.56) Tree?
November 27, 2024 at 4:02 PM
So, the Dollar(.25) Tree is about to become the Dollar(.56) Tree?
Red One review: long, entertaining in parts. 3/5.
November 23, 2024 at 4:30 AM
Red One review: long, entertaining in parts. 3/5.
Reposted by Joe Baker
A single record can hold about 40-45 minutes worth of music (at 33rpm) at decent enough quality for home listening.
Pushing more than that means quieter pressings, lower quality / more apparent surface noise - and over 25 mins a side a lot of plants will simply refuse to cut.
Pushing more than that means quieter pressings, lower quality / more apparent surface noise - and over 25 mins a side a lot of plants will simply refuse to cut.
November 19, 2024 at 10:32 AM
A single record can hold about 40-45 minutes worth of music (at 33rpm) at decent enough quality for home listening.
Pushing more than that means quieter pressings, lower quality / more apparent surface noise - and over 25 mins a side a lot of plants will simply refuse to cut.
Pushing more than that means quieter pressings, lower quality / more apparent surface noise - and over 25 mins a side a lot of plants will simply refuse to cut.
Thanksgiving really needs to be held in October during presidential election years.
November 16, 2024 at 6:26 PM
Thanksgiving really needs to be held in October during presidential election years.
Great album. 10/10
November 16, 2024 at 3:13 PM
Great album. 10/10
Friday night meditation: playing Strange Currencies on my axe.
November 16, 2024 at 6:32 AM
Friday night meditation: playing Strange Currencies on my axe.
Reposted by Joe Baker
Kim Deal, the Breeders lead singer and former Pixies member, has long been one of the most enchanting and elusive figures in rock. Now she is releasing her first full album under her own name, titled “Nobody Loves You More.”
Kim Deal Is Ready to Go Solo. It Just Took 4 Decades.
The Breeders leader has long been one of the most enchanting and elusive figures in rock. At 63, she’s releasing her first full album under her name, filled with musical and emotional twists.
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2024 at 9:04 PM
Kim Deal, the Breeders lead singer and former Pixies member, has long been one of the most enchanting and elusive figures in rock. Now she is releasing her first full album under her own name, titled “Nobody Loves You More.”