Happy Festivus for the rest of us

It's a great day!

My favorite is Rand Paul's annual airing of grievances.  Here are some good ones:

to my absentee friend @marcorubio, I didn't put your $170k+ salary in my waste report today. But I could have #Festivus

— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 23, 2015

I have no grievances against my fellow doc @RealBenCarson because I have not heard a word he has said in any debate. #Festivus

— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 23, 2015

Where to start but @realDonaldTrump. If u bring the Yiddish, know what it means. Guess that's more of a kvetch than a grievance #Festivus

— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 23, 2015

37 years on the lam, but incompetent

Paula McMahon has this lengthy article about the interesting twists and turns of this old case:

In his heyday, Robert Woodring was a con man who lived a life of intrigue and adventure, then successfully went on the lam for 37 years to avoid going to prison.
Law enforcement finally tracked him down a year ago in Guadalajara, Mexico, and he was sent back to South Florida to serve his time for the original offenses and to pay the price for eluding justice.
But by Monday, when the 82-year-old Woodring was to be sentenced for jumping bond in 1977, the ravages of time had created another twist: He was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and dementia and was found legally incompetent to be sentenced.
His medical diagnosis does not mean he will get a free pass from the legal system.

***

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke met privately with probation officials and then held a lengthy sidebar discussion with Salnick and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert T. Watson.
The judge decided the most practical course of action was to send Woodring to a federal prison hospital, where he can receive appropriate treatment. She recommended sending him to Butner Federal Medical Center in North Carolina.
For technical legal reasons, she gave him a provisional sentence of one year in federal prison for the bond-jumping offense and recommended the prior 7.5-year term, imposed by judges who are long dead, also be converted to a provisional sentence because it is unlikely Woodring would ever be restored to legal competency.
Woodring, dressed in khaki prison scrubs and using a wheelchair, joked affably with the deputy marshals who escorted him to the Miami courtroom from the neighboring Federal Detention Center.
He did not speak during the hearing but was overheard talking with his lawyer, saying at one point: "Life is short."
Salnick said Judge Cooke's sentencing was "the very kind and very humane thing to do."

Your Monday Moment of Zen

People make mistakes... This guy jumped ship for 37 years after his (via the AP):

A Florida man is facing additional prison time after spending 37 years on the lam until his capture late last year in Mexico.

Prosecutors are seeking an additional year in prison for 82-year-old Robert Anton Woodring for jumping bail in 1977. Woodring's sentencing has been delayed several times for medical evaluations.

A hearing is set Monday before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke.

Prosecutors say Woodring failed to surrender in 1977 to begin serving a seven-year prison sentence for fraud and for a related conviction involving an attempt to flee in his 60-foot yacht so officials couldn't seize it.

U.S. Marshals caught Woodring in Guadalajara, Mexico, in December 2014 after getting a tip while searching for another fugitive. Mexican officials sent him back to the U.S.

Happy Holidays from President Obama ...

... to 95 people who got pardons or commutations.

Today, President Obama is commuting the federal prison sentences of 95 men and women, most of whom committed nonviolent offenses. With this step, the President has now granted 184 commutations total -- more than the last five presidents combined. Take a look:

Not such a great holiday for former bank vice president Frank Spinosa, who was sentenced to 30 months by Judge Bloom.

Who's excited?!

It's here -- Star Wars day!

In that vein, I thought you'd be interested in a story about Star Wars and the First Amendment from the Volokh Conspiracy. 

Joe Southern says his [7th-grader] son, Colton, wore a shirt depicting the “Star Wars – The Force Awakens” logo, along with a Storm Trooper holding a weapon, to class Thursday at George Junior High School….
On Thursday, though, school officials told Colton the shirt was banned because it has a gun, or at least a picture of what in the movie is weapon….
A spokesperson for Lamar Consolidated Independent School District says the LCISD secondary school handbook spells out potential violations of dress code. The list includes “symbols oriented toward violence.”
Administrators say they did not reprimand the student, though they could have required him to change or assigned him in-school suspension. They say they only required him to zip up his jacket….

Volokh analyzes some First Amendment cases and then concludes: "...nothing about this T-shirt can reasonably be understood as promoting illegal blaster use. A pretty clear First Amendment violation, then, on the school district’s part."