A judge who refused to perform same sex marriages was indicted in Oregon - because he committed a crime or because his indictment is a come-uppance for refusing to perform same sex marriages?

I wrote on this blog about judges targeted for refusing to obey some, but not all, of the U.S. Supreme Court precedents.

For example, the precedents of the U.S. Supreme Court about due process and free speech can be violated with impunity, with nobody bothering - as evidenced by the statistics of persecutions against attorney whistleblowers of judicial misconduct.

Yet, judges in Alabama, Wyoming and Oregon were sought out for discipline for disregarding the particular U.S. Supreme Court precedent about legalizing same sex marriage (while the State Bar of the State of Texas refused to discipline the Attorney General for the State of Texas on the same grounds).

I wrote specifically about the fate of the Oregon Judge Vance Day who was targeted for discipline because he refused to perform same sex marriages.

Now, one of the judges targeted for refusal to obey the same-sex marriage precedent of the U.S. Supreme Court has been reportedly indicted for allegedly providing a gun to a felon, and for using his position to obtain a benefit in 2013 or 2014.

Now, judges use their positions to obtain benefits all the time, and I've been writing about it on this blog since 2014.  I wrote about conflicts of interests of U.S. Supreme Court justices just yesterday - none of those justices were ever indicted for "obtaining benefits" for themselves using their judicial positions, such as book deals, speaking engagements, teaching engagements overseas, trips paid by associations, attorneys and law firms appearing in front of the court etc.

And, state judges are usually - if indicted at all, which happens in extremely rare cases - are indicted only in federal court, because, first, state prosecutors are afraid to touch them, and, second, State Attorneys General are actually the judge's own attorneys advising them and representing them if judges are sued.  Judge Day is the fist sitting judge in the State of Oregon who was indicted, according, reportedly, to the official statement of representative of Oregon Judicial Department.

So, when the Oregon Attorney General presented the case to the grand jury, he was certainly disqualified from doing it by an irreconcilable conflict of interest.

And, since a decision was made that a state judge would be turned into a state criminal grand jury, the judge was really marked for destruction.

Interestingly enough, after indictment and arraignment, Judge Vance Day was reportedly ordered to "work from home" - whatever that means for a judge.

The whole point of "benefit" and "giving a gun to a felon" was because Judge Day took a litigant, a former Navy Seal, appearing in his "Veteran's Treatment Court", to Judge Day's son-in-law's home to do some work there, and allowed the former Navy Seal, a convicted felon, to remove a clip on the gun in order to make sure the gun is loaded.

This country has just witnessed on live TV crowds of people crying in the streets because a criminal  who exposed the national security was not elected president.

We have judges, like Judge Sotomayor, accepting "books and pieces of art not exceeding $350.00 in value".

We have other judges accepting all-expenses-paid trips from attorneys, bar associations and parties appearing in front of the court.

Those are huge "benefits".

Nobody gets indicted.  Instead, these judges are celebrated as "outstanding jurists".

What Judge Day allegedly did - if he did it - is undoubtedly improper.

It is unquestioningly improper for a judge to hire a litigant appearing in front of him to do work in the judge's son-in-law's house.

Yet, it is no less improper for a judge to accept wining-and-dining from attorneys sponsoring the American Inns of Court on a monthly basis, behind closed doors and without the litigants even knowing that judges are accepting benefits from attorneys, likely, attorneys appearing in front of them.

And, it is clear that judges would not have been wined and dined but for their position and judges.

For example, here is an interesting article about the "challenges" that the Clinton Foundation may face now that the "goodwill" of Hillary Clinton as a future president of the United States disappeared - and big donors, like the governments of Norway, Australia or Kuwait being disappointed.

"Goodwill" is a code word nowadays for the ability of a public servant to use his or her official position to enhance business opportunities for himself/herself and their families.

Half the country said it is good for Hillary Clinton, with such shady money received by her Foundation, to become president and continue to trade her influence for money for her family that is running and using the Foundation's money.

If it is good for Senators, if it is good for Hillary Clinton, if it is good for the U.S. Supreme Court justices to receive "benefits" in exchange for their influence as public servants - why Judge Day was targeted, as the very first and only judge so far in the State of Oregon who was ever indicted.

We are talking selective enforcement of laws here.

The judge himself did not receive a benefit from the former Navy Seal's work - his son-in-law did.  And, there is no indication that the judge traded the former Navy Seal's work for the judge's son for a beneficial treatment in court.

Moreover, there is a real question that allowing a trained former Navy Seal to DISABLE a gun qualifies as allowing possession of a gun by a felon.  Such an indictment puts the law prohibiting possession of guns to felons on its head, because the reason why the former Navy Seal was allegedly allowed to disable the gun was to enhance safety, not threaten it.

Judge Day is not a very likeable person.

He reportedly included the portrait of Adolf Hitler in the "Hall of Heroes" artwork display at the courthouse, and refused to take it down, reportedly stating that "some influential people in town" want that portrait there.

But, Judge Day was not indicted for that.

Judge Day was indicted for conduct that, likely, every other judge in the country can be accused of, but no judges are indicted for.

The only other things that judges in Oregon were ever charged for criminally was driving while intoxicated and bigamy/forgery of documents to commit bigamy.

With the general permissive attitude with judges committing crimes in office under protection of absolute judicial immunity for malicious and corrupt acts, I believe that, had Judge Vance Day not been targeted as a judge who refused to perform same sex marriages, defying ONE U.S. Supreme Court precedent (while every other judge continues to defy any other U.S. Supreme Court precedents with impunity and immunity), he would never have been indicted.

And that is a big problem with the "rule of law" and "equal protection of law" in this country.