Sholom Rubashkin
Encyclopedia
Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin (born October 6, 1959), an ultra-Orthodox Jew of the Lubavitcher
Hasidic
movement, is a former executive officer
and vice president
of Agriprocessors
, a now-bankrupt slaughterhouse
and meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa
formerly owned by his father, Aaron Rubashkin
. During his directorship of the plant, Agriprocessors grew into the largest kosher
meat producer in the United States, but was also cited for issues involving animal treatment, food safety, environmental safety, child labor, and hiring of illegal workers.
In November 2009, Rubashkin was convicted of 86 counts of financial fraud
, including bank fraud
, mail and wire fraud
and money laundering
. In June 2010, he was sentenced to 27 years in prison
. In a separate trial, he was acquitted
of knowingly hiring underage workers. He is currently serving his sentence in Otisville, New York
. In January 2011, his lawyers filed an appeal; on September 16, 2011, the appeals court ruled against Rubashkin.
, Russia.
In 1981, Rubashkin married Leah Goldman and spent a year learning in kollel
. Afterwards he worked in his father's butcher shop, until he and his wife were sent to Atlanta, Georgia
as emissaries (shluchim
) in the Chabad-Lubavitch outreach program
. A year later the couple moved to Minnesota, from where Rubashkin commuted to his father's new meat-packing plant in Postville for approximately three years before they relocated there. The couple has ten children.
and put two of his sons in charge, Sholom Rubashkin, the second youngest as CEO
, and Heshy Rubashkin, the youngest, as vice president of marketing and sales. Eventually, Agriprocessors became the United State's largest kosher slaughterhouse
and meat packing plant
and the only one authorized by Israel's Orthodox rabbinate to export beef to Israel
. According to statistics that Rubashkin gave to Cattle Buyers Weekly, Agriprocessors sales increased from $80 million in 1997 to $180 million in 2002. In 2002 Agriprocessors was ranked as one of the 30 biggest beef-packing plants in America.
Under Rubashkin's leadership, Agriprocessors was cited for issues involving animal treatment, food safety, environmental safety, child labor, and hiring of other illegal workers.
Sholom Rubashkin was replaced as CEO in September 2008. Agriprocessors plants stopped operating in October 2008. On November 5, 2008 the firm filed for bankruptcy.
and Department of Homeland Security
agents raided the plant and arrested 389 workers that lacked documentation. At that time, it was the largest raid into a workplace in the United States.
On October 30, 2008, Rubashkin was arrested on federal conspiracy charges of harboring illegal immigrants and aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft
. The same day, after making an initial court appearance, he was released on the following conditions: He must wear an ankle monitor
that tracks his movement, limit his travel to northern Iowa, surrender his passport and his wife's passport and provide a $1 million appearance bond.
Rubashkin was arrested again on November 13, 2008, at his Postville home on federal charges of bank fraud
. The charges claimed that under his direction, millions of dollars that were supposed to be deposited in an account as collateral for a loan were fraudulently diverted to another account, and were used to fraudulently increase the value of Agriprocessors accounts receivable. After the money was diverted, Rubashkin ordered the records of these transactions removed from company computers. Rubashkin faced up to 30 years in prison on these new charges.
On January 27, 2009, Judge Linda Reade released Rubashkin on $500,000 bond. Rubashkin was ordered to surrender all passports and birth certificates, and agree to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. He was not allowed to leave Allamakee County, nor was allowed on any of Agriprocessors’ property and was barred from contacting a list of people related to the case. Defense attorneys successfully argued that Rubashkin was not a flight risk and had strong ties to the community, despite prosecutors' fears that he would flee to Israel, which grants Jews expedited citizenship under its Law of Return
. Upon searching Rubashkin's house, federal agents found $20,000 in cash and silver coins packed along with passports in his bedroom.
On November 23, 2009, Rubashkin's second trial on 72 immigration charges was canceled following the government's request to dismiss without prejudice. In its motion to dismiss, the U.S. Attorneys Office said any conviction on the immigration charges would have no impact upon his sentence, writing, "dismissal will avoid an extended and expensive trial, conserve limited resources, and lessen the inconvenience to witnesses." Federal Judge Linda R. Reade
dismissed the immigration charges without prejudice.
On March 3, 2010, Judge Reade
denied Rubashkin's motion for dismissal of the financial corruption charges and a request for a new trial.
Rubashkin's sentencing hearing took place on April 28–29 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Prosecutors asked Judge Reade to impose a life sentence. After that request came under fire from former Justice Department officials including six former Attorneys General, one former solicitor general and more than a dozen former United States attorneys, Assistant U.S. Attorney Pete Deegan said in court that the government would seek 25 years, while the defense asked for no more than six years.
On June 22, 2010, Judge Reade
handed down a sentence of 27 years, two years more than prosecutors had requested. According to a 52-page memorandum which she released the day before sentencing, the judge imposed a 324-month prison term followed by 5 years of supervised release, and ordered Rubashkin to pay $18.5 million to First Bank Business Capital, the plant’s largest lender; $8.3 million to MB Financial Bank, another lender; and $3,800 to Waverly Sales, Inc., which received late payments from the plant for cattle.
charges in state court in Waterloo, Iowa starting May 4, 2010. Prior to the trial, charges against Agriprocessors corporate officer Aaron Rubashkin and plant human resources employee Laura Althouse were dismissed. Additionally, the number of charges in the indictment was amended to 83 from 9,311. Sholom Rubashkin was acquitted of all charges on June 7, 2010. However, Agriprocessors, as a corporation, which had already been purchased by Heshy Friedman, entered a guilty plea to the 83 child labor charges and the plant′s human resources manager pleaded to state child labor charges under an agreement with the state.
On January 3, 2011, lawyers for Rubashkin filed an appeal for a new trial with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. In the brief, four arguments for a new trial were made. According to the brief, government documents that surfaced after Rubashkin's conviction and not made available to the defense showed that Reade was involved in the planning for the federal immigration raid of the Postville plant in May 2008, which it sees as collusion with the prosecution. Reade′s “excessive coziness” with prosecutors planning the raid raised doubts about her impartiality in the case, the brief claims, and states that as a result Reade should have recused herself, and that Rubashkin is entitled to a new trial or, at a minimum, an evidentiary hearing.
Following the filing of this appeal, the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU), National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
(NACDL) and Washington Legal Foundation
(WLF) filed amicus briefs supporting Rubashkin′s appeal for a new trial. What has united the three groups is the involvement of the judge in the case with the prosecution, as argued by Rubashkin’s defense team, which, according to ACLU′s Iowa legal director Randall Wilson, “immediately gave the appearance of unfairness.” The ACLU brief says: “Mr. Rubashkin’s conviction should be vacated and he should get his ‘day in court,’ with a tribunal that is not an arm of the prosecution. Due Process demands it. The Separation of Powers Doctrine demands it.” However, the ACLU still sees in Rubashkin someone who exploited illegal workers and underage labor, according to Wilson, but sees these as separate issues from the matter of legal principle argued in its brief. Subsequent to the filing of the appeal, the government, in a rare move, denied consent to the filing of the three amicus briefs, and filed a Resistance with the Eight Circuit, attempting to block the court from accepting the brief. Following a law review published in Bloomberg Law Reports, the government filed a brief to withdraw their opposition to the amicus briefs.
On March 11, 2011, the government filed their response to Rubashkin's appeal and on April 18, 2011, Rubashkin's lawyers filed their reply brief. The oral argument before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals took place on June 15, 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri. On September 16, 2011 the court ruled against Rubashkin. Rubashkin’s attorney said they would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
at which Attorney General Eric Holder testified, two members of Congress (Debbie Wasserman Schultz
D-FL and Sheila Jackson Lee
D-TX) publicly mentioned the case of Sholom Rubashkin to the Attorney General.
Forty-five members of Congress have written to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to ask questions about the handling of the case.
's "We the People" website, asking President Barack Obama
to investigate the Rubashkin case was submitted on October 22, 2011 with 51,940 online signatures. The White House's response to the petition was that it was unable to issue a comment due to the separation of powers
.
Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad-Lubavitch is a Chasidic movement in Orthodox Judaism. One of the world's larger and best-known Chasidic movements, its official headquarters is in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York...
Hasidic
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
movement, is a former executive officer
Executive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
and vice president
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
of Agriprocessors
Agriprocessors
Agriprocessors was the corporate identity of a slaughterhouse and meat-packaging factory based in Postville, Iowa, best known as a facility for the glatt kosher processing of cattle, as well as chicken, turkey, duck, and lamb. Agriprocessors' meat and poultry products were marketed under the brand...
, a now-bankrupt slaughterhouse
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
and meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa
Postville, Iowa
Postville is a city in Allamakee and Clayton Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. It lies near the junction of four counties and at the intersection of U.S. Routes 18 and 52 and Iowa Highway 51, with airport facilities in the neighboring communities of Waukon, Decorah, Monona, and Prairie du Chien....
formerly owned by his father, Aaron Rubashkin
Aaron Rubashkin
Abraham Aaron Rubashkin, or Aaron Rubashkin, an ultra-Orthodox Jew of the Lubavitcher hasidic movement born in the Russian town Nevel in the former Soviet Union, is the owner of a kosher butcher shop in Brooklyn, New York, opened in 1953...
. During his directorship of the plant, Agriprocessors grew into the largest kosher
Kosher foods
Kosher foods are those that conform to the regulations of the Jewish Halakhic law framework, kosher meaning fit or allowed to be eaten. A list of some kosher foods are found in the book of Leviticus 11:1-47. There are also certain kosher rules found there...
meat producer in the United States, but was also cited for issues involving animal treatment, food safety, environmental safety, child labor, and hiring of illegal workers.
In November 2009, Rubashkin was convicted of 86 counts of financial fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
, including bank fraud
Bank fraud
Bank fraud is the use of fraudulent means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently representing to be a bank or financial institution. In many instances, bank fraud is a criminal offense...
, mail and wire fraud
Wire fraud
Mail and wire fraud is a federal crime in the United States. Together, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, and 1346 reach any fraudulent scheme or artifice to intentionally deprive another of property or honest services with a nexus to mail or wire communication....
and money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
. In June 2010, he was sentenced to 27 years in prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
. In a separate trial, he was acquitted
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
of knowingly hiring underage workers. He is currently serving his sentence in Otisville, New York
Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville
The Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville is located in Orange County, New York, USA. The federal prison, which opened in 1977, is a medium security facility, located in the Town of Mount Hope a quarter mile from the Otisville Correctional Facility, a New York medium security prison, thus...
. In January 2011, his lawyers filed an appeal; on September 16, 2011, the appeals court ruled against Rubashkin.
Early life and marriage
Sholom Rubashkin is the second-youngest son of Rivka and Aaron Rubashkin, a Lubavitcher Hasidic butcher from Brooklyn, New York, born in NevelNevel
Nevel is a town and the administrative center of Nevelsky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located on Lake Nevel southeast of Pskov. Population:...
, Russia.
In 1981, Rubashkin married Leah Goldman and spent a year learning in kollel
Kollel
A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
. Afterwards he worked in his father's butcher shop, until he and his wife were sent to Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
as emissaries (shluchim
Shaliach (Chabad)
A Chabad shliach is a Chabad member sent out to promulgate Judaism and Chasidut around the world.Chabad shluchim as of 2010 number about 4,500 worldwide, and can be found in many of even the most remote worldly locales.-Origins:...
) in the Chabad-Lubavitch outreach program
Chabad outreach
Chabad Hasidic outreach is today the biggest organised phenomena in the Kiruv world. They actively bring Jews to adopt Orthodox Jewish observance all over the world, even in the most unlikely places....
. A year later the couple moved to Minnesota, from where Rubashkin commuted to his father's new meat-packing plant in Postville for approximately three years before they relocated there. The couple has ten children.
CEO of Agriprocessors
In 1987 Aaron Rubashkin opened the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, IowaPostville, Iowa
Postville is a city in Allamakee and Clayton Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. It lies near the junction of four counties and at the intersection of U.S. Routes 18 and 52 and Iowa Highway 51, with airport facilities in the neighboring communities of Waukon, Decorah, Monona, and Prairie du Chien....
and put two of his sons in charge, Sholom Rubashkin, the second youngest as CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
, and Heshy Rubashkin, the youngest, as vice president of marketing and sales. Eventually, Agriprocessors became the United State's largest kosher slaughterhouse
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
and meat packing plant
Meat packing industry
The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock...
and the only one authorized by Israel's Orthodox rabbinate to export beef to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. According to statistics that Rubashkin gave to Cattle Buyers Weekly, Agriprocessors sales increased from $80 million in 1997 to $180 million in 2002. In 2002 Agriprocessors was ranked as one of the 30 biggest beef-packing plants in America.
Under Rubashkin's leadership, Agriprocessors was cited for issues involving animal treatment, food safety, environmental safety, child labor, and hiring of other illegal workers.
Sholom Rubashkin was replaced as CEO in September 2008. Agriprocessors plants stopped operating in October 2008. On November 5, 2008 the firm filed for bankruptcy.
Raid and arrests
On May 12, 2008, the FBIFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
and Department of Homeland Security
United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
agents raided the plant and arrested 389 workers that lacked documentation. At that time, it was the largest raid into a workplace in the United States.
On October 30, 2008, Rubashkin was arrested on federal conspiracy charges of harboring illegal immigrants and aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft
Identity theft
Identity theft is a form of stealing another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name...
. The same day, after making an initial court appearance, he was released on the following conditions: He must wear an ankle monitor
Ankle monitor
An ankle monitor is a device that individuals under house arrest are often required to wear. At timed intervals, the ankle monitor sends a radio frequency signal containing location and other information to a receiver. If an offender moves outside of an allowed range, the police will be notified...
that tracks his movement, limit his travel to northern Iowa, surrender his passport and his wife's passport and provide a $1 million appearance bond.
Rubashkin was arrested again on November 13, 2008, at his Postville home on federal charges of bank fraud
Bank fraud
Bank fraud is the use of fraudulent means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently representing to be a bank or financial institution. In many instances, bank fraud is a criminal offense...
. The charges claimed that under his direction, millions of dollars that were supposed to be deposited in an account as collateral for a loan were fraudulently diverted to another account, and were used to fraudulently increase the value of Agriprocessors accounts receivable. After the money was diverted, Rubashkin ordered the records of these transactions removed from company computers. Rubashkin faced up to 30 years in prison on these new charges.
On January 27, 2009, Judge Linda Reade released Rubashkin on $500,000 bond. Rubashkin was ordered to surrender all passports and birth certificates, and agree to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. He was not allowed to leave Allamakee County, nor was allowed on any of Agriprocessors’ property and was barred from contacting a list of people related to the case. Defense attorneys successfully argued that Rubashkin was not a flight risk and had strong ties to the community, despite prosecutors' fears that he would flee to Israel, which grants Jews expedited citizenship under its Law of Return
Law of Return
The Law of Return is Israeli legislation, passed on 5 July 1950, that gives Jews the right of return and settlement in Israel and gain citizenship...
. Upon searching Rubashkin's house, federal agents found $20,000 in cash and silver coins packed along with passports in his bedroom.
Federal trials
Rubashkin was convicted in November 2009 on 86 charges of financial fraud, including bank fraud, mail and wire fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors had claimed the company intentionally defrauded St. Louis based First Bank on a revolving $35 million loan by faking invoices from meat dealers, inflating the value of the company.On November 23, 2009, Rubashkin's second trial on 72 immigration charges was canceled following the government's request to dismiss without prejudice. In its motion to dismiss, the U.S. Attorneys Office said any conviction on the immigration charges would have no impact upon his sentence, writing, "dismissal will avoid an extended and expensive trial, conserve limited resources, and lessen the inconvenience to witnesses." Federal Judge Linda R. Reade
Linda R. Reade
Linda Rae Reade is a District Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. She joined the court in 2002 after being nominated by President George W...
dismissed the immigration charges without prejudice.
On March 3, 2010, Judge Reade
Linda R. Reade
Linda Rae Reade is a District Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. She joined the court in 2002 after being nominated by President George W...
denied Rubashkin's motion for dismissal of the financial corruption charges and a request for a new trial.
Rubashkin's sentencing hearing took place on April 28–29 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Prosecutors asked Judge Reade to impose a life sentence. After that request came under fire from former Justice Department officials including six former Attorneys General, one former solicitor general and more than a dozen former United States attorneys, Assistant U.S. Attorney Pete Deegan said in court that the government would seek 25 years, while the defense asked for no more than six years.
On June 22, 2010, Judge Reade
Linda R. Reade
Linda Rae Reade is a District Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. She joined the court in 2002 after being nominated by President George W...
handed down a sentence of 27 years, two years more than prosecutors had requested. According to a 52-page memorandum which she released the day before sentencing, the judge imposed a 324-month prison term followed by 5 years of supervised release, and ordered Rubashkin to pay $18.5 million to First Bank Business Capital, the plant’s largest lender; $8.3 million to MB Financial Bank, another lender; and $3,800 to Waverly Sales, Inc., which received late payments from the plant for cattle.
State child labor trial
Separate from the federal trials, Rubashkin went on trial on the child laborChild labor
Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries...
charges in state court in Waterloo, Iowa starting May 4, 2010. Prior to the trial, charges against Agriprocessors corporate officer Aaron Rubashkin and plant human resources employee Laura Althouse were dismissed. Additionally, the number of charges in the indictment was amended to 83 from 9,311. Sholom Rubashkin was acquitted of all charges on June 7, 2010. However, Agriprocessors, as a corporation, which had already been purchased by Heshy Friedman, entered a guilty plea to the 83 child labor charges and the plant′s human resources manager pleaded to state child labor charges under an agreement with the state.
Unsuccessful motion for new trial
On August 5, 2010, lawyers for Rubashkin filed a motion for new trial after having discovered, that Judge Reade was more involved in planning the 2008 immigration raid at Agriprocessors′ Postville plant than previously disclosed, claiming that “federal law and U.S. Supreme Court rulings would have required Reade to remove herself from the trial.” On October 27, 2010, Judge Reade denied the motion.On January 3, 2011, lawyers for Rubashkin filed an appeal for a new trial with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. In the brief, four arguments for a new trial were made. According to the brief, government documents that surfaced after Rubashkin's conviction and not made available to the defense showed that Reade was involved in the planning for the federal immigration raid of the Postville plant in May 2008, which it sees as collusion with the prosecution. Reade′s “excessive coziness” with prosecutors planning the raid raised doubts about her impartiality in the case, the brief claims, and states that as a result Reade should have recused herself, and that Rubashkin is entitled to a new trial or, at a minimum, an evidentiary hearing.
Following the filing of this appeal, the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
(ACLU), National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is an American criminal defense organization. Their stated mission is to "Ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime. Foster the integrity, independence and expertise of the criminal defense profession...
(NACDL) and Washington Legal Foundation
Washington Legal Foundation
The Washington Legal Foundation is a non-profit legal organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1977, the Foundation's stated goal is "to defend and promote the principles of freedom and justice." The organization promotes pro-business and free-market positions and is widely perceived as...
(WLF) filed amicus briefs supporting Rubashkin′s appeal for a new trial. What has united the three groups is the involvement of the judge in the case with the prosecution, as argued by Rubashkin’s defense team, which, according to ACLU′s Iowa legal director Randall Wilson, “immediately gave the appearance of unfairness.” The ACLU brief says: “Mr. Rubashkin’s conviction should be vacated and he should get his ‘day in court,’ with a tribunal that is not an arm of the prosecution. Due Process demands it. The Separation of Powers Doctrine demands it.” However, the ACLU still sees in Rubashkin someone who exploited illegal workers and underage labor, according to Wilson, but sees these as separate issues from the matter of legal principle argued in its brief. Subsequent to the filing of the appeal, the government, in a rare move, denied consent to the filing of the three amicus briefs, and filed a Resistance with the Eight Circuit, attempting to block the court from accepting the brief. Following a law review published in Bloomberg Law Reports, the government filed a brief to withdraw their opposition to the amicus briefs.
On March 11, 2011, the government filed their response to Rubashkin's appeal and on April 18, 2011, Rubashkin's lawyers filed their reply brief. The oral argument before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals took place on June 15, 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri. On September 16, 2011 the court ruled against Rubashkin. Rubashkin’s attorney said they would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Response from Congress
On May 3, 2011, at a once-a-year House Oversight Hearing of the Judiciary CommitteeJudiciary Committee
Judiciary Committee may refer to:* United States House Committee on the Judiciary* United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary...
at which Attorney General Eric Holder testified, two members of Congress (Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. She is a member of the Democratic Party and the Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. She previously served in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate...
D-FL and Sheila Jackson Lee
Sheila Jackson Lee
Sheila Jackson Lee is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1995. The district includes most of inner-city Houston. She is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life and education:...
D-TX) publicly mentioned the case of Sholom Rubashkin to the Attorney General.
Forty-five members of Congress have written to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to ask questions about the handling of the case.
White House Petition
A petition on the White HouseWhite House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
's "We the People" website, asking President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
to investigate the Rubashkin case was submitted on October 22, 2011 with 51,940 online signatures. The White House's response to the petition was that it was unable to issue a comment due to the separation of powers
Separation of powers under the United States Constitution
Separation of powers is a political doctrine originating from the United States Constitution, according to which the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the United States government are kept distinct in order to prevent abuse of power. This U.S...
.
Further reading
- Edwin BlackEdwin BlackEdwin Black is an American Jewish syndicated columnist, and journalist specializing in the historical interplay between economics and politics in the Middle East, petroleum policy, the abuses practiced by corporations, and the financial underpinnings of Nazi Germany, among other topics...
: Is A Life Sentence for Iowa Kosher Butcher Disproportionate Justice? The Cutting Edge, April 19, 2010 - Stephen G. Bloom: Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland AmericaPostville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland AmericaPostville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America is a 2000 book by journalist Stephen G. Bloom. The book documents the struggle between the small town of Postville, Iowa, and a group of new arrivals: Lubavitcher Hasidim from New York who came to the town to run Agriprocessors, the largest...
. Harcourt, New York 2000 ISBN 0156013363 - Paul Cassell: Rubashkin Sentence Must Be Fair—Not Shocking The Cutting Edge, April 26, 2010
- Chicago Tribune Editorial: White-collar blues Chicago Tribune, June 21, 2010
- Menachem GenackMenachem GenackMenachem Genack is an Orthodox rabbi and the CEO of the Orthodox Union Kosher Division, a supervisory organization of kosher food. He is known as one of the foremost talmidim of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik under whom he studied for over a decade. He was also very close to Rabbi Moshe Shmuel...
: Overzealous prosecution diminished justice Cedar Rapids Gazette, June 25, 2010 - Stephen Gillers: Declaration of Stephen Gillers, September 8, 2010
- Mark Harrison: Affidavit of Mark I. Harrison, September 8, 2010
- Gregory JohnsonGregory JohnsonGregory Johnson or Greg Johnson may refer to:*Gregory B. Johnson , musician, pianist, composer, band member of Cameo* Admiral Gregory G. Johnson, U.S. Navy, former Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Southern Europe, and Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe, 2001–2004*Gregory C. Johnson ,...
: Is Reflections on the Prosecution of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin and the Government Raid of the Agriprocessors Kosher Meat Packing Plant in Postville, Iowa Resources for Life, April 8, 2010 - The Postville Project Luther CollegeLuther College (Iowa)Luther College is a four-year, residential liberal arts institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, located in Decorah, Iowa, USA...
and University of Northern IowaUniversity of Northern IowaThe University of Northern Iowa is a college located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 120 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities and Fine Arts, Natural Sciences, and Social and Behavioral sciences, and graduate college.UNI has... - Robert Steinbuch & Brett Tolman: Justice denied National Law Journal, August 16, 2010