OH, GOODY! HAL TURNER IS FIGHTING EXTRADITION!

On Friday, Hal Turner appeared in court for the first time since he was arrested for threatening lawmakers in Connecticut, and through his lawyer said he was going to fight extradition there, ensuring that this is going to be the best misdameanor trial date ever. It might be possible that more charges will be coming down the pike because you don’t go through this much trouble unless you have all intentions to kick a little ass. That remains to be seen however. In the meantime, is this not the best photo of a neo-Nazi in jail? Turner is on a closed circut feed beamed in to the Hudson County (NJ) Courthouse from the Hudson County Jail. Fact of the matter is he should had covered his mouth years ago, before he started making threats he couldn’t carry out.

NJ.com

The attorney for white supremacist hate blogger Harold “Hal” Turner vowed to fight extradition today for his client, who was arrested yesterday on Connecticut charges alleging he suggested that several officials there should be shot.

“We will be fighting extradition,” Newark Attorney Michael A. Orozco said adamantly after Turner, a North Bergen resident, appeared via videolink from the Hudson County jail this morning in Central Judicial Processing Court in Jersey City.

But fighting extradition may just buy time.

In a case in which a defendant fights extradition, the scope of relevant issues is extremely limited, and the primary issue is whether the person in custody is in fact the person named by the demanding state, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.

“It is very rare that a defendant successfully contests extradition,” DeFazio said.

Turner’s wife and son were at today’s hearing as Turner was seen wearing the green prison garb of the Kearny jail.

He seemed anxious to speak but when he talked, Orozco cut him off, advising him to remain silent.

Yesterday afternoon, Turner was arrested at the North Bergen Police Station on a fugitive from justice warrant filed by the Connecticut State Capital Police based on the Connecticut charge of inciting injury.

The arrest came after recent comments on Turner’s blog alluded to using guns against state Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, and state Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairmen of the Judiciary Committee, and Thomas Jones, enforcement officer for the Office of State Ethics.

“Mr. Turner’s comments are above and beyond the threshold of free speech. He is inciting others through his website to commit acts of violence and has created fear and alarm,” Capital Police Chief Michael J. Fallon said in a statement. “He should be held accountable for his conduct.”

Turner made the comments while advocating for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., in its lawsuit against the Connecticut State Ethics Office.

The state office says the diocese failed to register as a lobbyist prior to organizing a large protest against a bill aimed at changing the way Catholic parishes are incorporated.

Yesterday Diocese of Bridgeport Bishop William E. Lori posted a statement about the lawsuit which does not refer to Turner but reads in part:

“We deplore and condemn hateful language and advocacy of violence of any kind. Such speech is contrary to the civil and respectful discourse that reflects the Christian values we hold so dear.

“We further denounce any individuals or groups who might try to exploit this matter for their own separate agendas. Fundamental constitutional rights include the responsibility to express our views in a civil and lawful manner.”

Turner’s blog commentary says in part:

“While filing a lawsuit is quaint and the ‘decent’ way to handle things, we at TRN (Turner Radio Network) believe that being decent to a group of tyrannical scumbags is the wrong approach. It’s too soft. Thankfully, the Founding Fathers gave us the tools necessary to resolve tyranny: The Second Amendment. …

“TRN advocates Catholics in Connecticut take up arms and put down this tyranny by force. To that end, THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT ON ‘THE HAL TURNER SHOW’ we will be releasing the home addresses of the Senator and Assemblyman who introduced Bill 1098 as well as the home address of Thomas K. Jones from the OSE.”

Since Turner was in custody last night, there was no show.

Rutgers Law School Professor Frank Askin, director of the Constitutional Litigation Clinic, said that based on the portions of Turner’s blog he has seen, Connecticut may not have a case.

“It’s probably free speech,” he said in an interview with The Jersey Journal. “The definition of incitement is very, very narrow under the Constitution’s First Amendment.”

The legal distinction is between “advocacy” and “incitement,” he said. “I think it’s on the advocacy side or the line and it is protected by the First Amendment.”