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Recently, a criminal complaint and petition was filed in the District Court of New Jersey, Trenton Division accusing District Court Judge Freda L Wolfson of obstruction of justice and requesting the release of a federal prisoner, based on the contention that the judge had no authority to sentence anyone to jail.

Judges are presumed to know the law or where to find it.

In prepared remarks by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on September 5, 2017, Sessions stated: “As the Attorney General, it is my duty to ensure that the laws of the United States are enforced and that the Constitutional order is upheld. No greater good can be done for the overall health and well-being of our Republic, than preserving and strengthening the impartial rule of law. Societies where the rule of law is treasured are societies that tend to flourish and succeed.”

The petitioner, David Moleski, a former chiropractor and pilot from Neptune, New Jersey, claims he was falsely imprisoned when the judge in his criminal trial on mail fraud and wire fraud charges, sentenced him to 54 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, as well as a $10,000 fine and more than $48,000 in restitution. Because of the false imprisonment, Moleski’s lawyers requested the immediate release of their client.

The argument presented in the complaint suggests that Judge Wolfson obstructed justice pursuant to 18 USC § 1512, et. seq., because she knew in advance that she had no authority to “prosecute, adjudge, or imprison” Moleski. Attorneys for Moleski and other social justice groups thoroughly researched the issue and found that the law granting District Court Judges the authorization to send any defendants in any criminal case to prison is invalid because the bill that passed the house in 1947 did not match the one that passed the Senate in 1948. If Public Law 80-772 is indeed not valid, then Moleski and presumably thousands of other prisoners, were sent to prison illegally.

This is a very serious issue because it would mean that no federal judge currently has authorization to sentence anyone accused of a federal crime to prison; it would call into question any criminal case in which a a person convicted of a federal crime was sentenced to incarceration.

President Truman “signed” Public Law 80-772 into law on June 25, 1948. Thus ostensibly rewrote Title 18 of the United States Code. However a different bill passed the House in 1947 than passed the Senate in 1948, rendering that law unconstitutional.