Judge Herman Thomas of Circuit Court had been suspended with pay since March, when a state judicial panel filed the first of a series of charges accusing him of unduly helping relatives and friends with their legal troubles and taking cases away from other judges, without permission, to change the defendants' legal status or reduce sentences.
(Thomas' study included only 2007 because his office began collecting data on defendants' immigration status that year).
The defendants' social status and association with criminal or otherwise outlaw elements precipitated the expedite course of action.
Reporters at the press conference asked question after question about the defendants' immigration status: How many were in the country illegally?
He commented as well upon the defendant's status as a single mother juggling two jobs to support her family.
Judge Sweeney has appeared to dismiss that argument, suggesting that since Cardinal Law was a defendant, his status as corporation sole could make the archdiocese legally responsible.
After they are charged as adults, he said, there are points when the court can change a defendant's status to that of a youthful offender, which would seal any conviction.
"What we're talking about here is a tenant who is also a landlord," he said, referring to the defendant's status as a tenant under the proprietary lease, but a co-owner of the building as a shareholder.
Based upon what counsel perceives to be irrational delusions with respect to Defendant's status related to the current charges and revocation of the deferred sentence, she has been unable to rationally assist counsel in her defense of this case".
The sentencing provoked outrage from labor and workers' movements and their supporters, resulting in protests around the world, and elevating the defendants to the status of martyrs, especially abroad.
