Dream of Federal Government Strip Club One Step Closer

Today I feel like standing on my chair and belting out "I'm Proud to be an American" at the top of my lungs.  Is it the approaching election?  Dreams of President McCain?  Fantasies of President Obama?  Nope.  It's because my dream of federally-operated strip clubs is one step closer to reality.

Mercury News reports:

Federal authorities are reversing position and asking a judge to let U.S. marshals operate a strip club seized after the owner was convicted of tax evasion.

The change is reflected in documents filed Thursday asking U.S. District Judge Philip Pro to extend by one month, until Dec. 3, a deadline for a decision whether to let a California bank foreclose on the Crazy Horse Too.

Security Pacific Bank has said it wants to foreclose to satisfy a $5 million loan it made to former owner Rick Rizzolo. It filed documents recently saying the value of the club had declined from about $30 million to $4.6 million under the marshals' control. . . . 

But in the new court papers, the government said a private law firm that specializes in land use issues has been hired to help persuade Las Vegas city officials to grant the government a liquor license to run the club.

Forget the rhetoric of Obama the socialist or the bailout of banks as the onslaught of socialist-style government control of the financial sector.  The real sign that socialism is upon us is when the federal government controls what strippers get to work the pole on Saturday night.

Friday Roundup

Domestic battery charges have been dropped against Assemlywoman Allen after her husband convinced the judge that he stabbed himself in the arm with a steak knife. [nope, not kidding] (Review-Journal)

Harmful Error covers the election race for Clark County Dist. Ct. Dept. 23 (Judge Halverson's old seat) between incumbent [and national joke] Elizabeth Halverson, Jason Landess and Stefany Miley. (Harmful Error)

The defendants in the China Bank criminal trial must be thrilled with their choice of counsel. The Nevada Supreme Court suspended one of the defense lawyers, Mitchell Posin, for one year. However, the Supreme Court later modified its order, allowing Posin to continue trying the case after Judge Pro and the defense lawyers said in court that the suspension could wreak havoc on the slow-moving trial. (Las Vegas Sun)

Congratulations to Anne Loraditch, Micaela Rustia, Brett Axelrod and Bob Olson. Greenberg Traurig just hired Brett Axelrod and Bob Olson as shareholders and Anne Loraditch and Micaela Rustia as associates in its Las Vegas office. (Review-Journal)

And congrats to Jeffrey Albregts, hired by Santoro, Driggs, Walch as a partner. (Review-Journal)

U.S. Attorney's Office fights to keep strip club licensed for liquor

Yesterday, a federal prosecutor appeared before U.S. District Judge Philip Pro and asked the federal judge to prevent a Las Vegas city ordinance from rescinding special use permits that allow exotic dancing and liquor at the Crazy Horse Too strip club.

The Review-Journal reports:

[The Asst. U.S. Attorney] argued that the value of the club would plummet from between $32 million and $35 million to between $8 million and $10 million without the special permits. The club opened before current zoning laws were adopted, but was allowed to continue operating.

The strip club has been closed since the federal government took it over last August.

Deputy [Las Vegas] City Attorney Bill Henry . . . said the city would be "outraged" if Pro took the uncommon step of overriding a city ordinance. He explained that the city is "protecting our citizens" by working to get rid of clubs grandfathered in after the new policies were put in place.

Bill Henry explained to Pro that the special use permits are stripped if the owner abandons them or discontinues the use of them. He said the federal government has done just that by failing to reopen the club.

The City Attorney then offered a Vegas-style solution to the federal government's problem:

He said the federal government could gain another year if it opens the club, serves alcohol and provides adult entertainment for an eight-hour period.

But prosecutors argued that the federal government is not in the business of
operating strip clubs.

The U.S. Attorney's office got into this odd legal position after seizing the strip club property as part of the former owner's plea agreement. Former Crazy Horse owner Rick Rizzolo pled guilty to tax evasion charges in 2006 and part of his plea bargain required Rizzolo to pay a patron of the club $10 million from the sale of the club. The patron had become quadriplegic after being beaten by strip club employees after arguing over his drink tab in 2001.

And on a rather touching note, apparently not all U.S. Attorneys are made of stone. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson teared up in front of U.S. District Judge Philip Pro as he argued that money from the sale of the club was needed to compensate the quadriplegic victim of the club's employees.

Weekend Roundup

U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) is saying that former UNLV law professor and current 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jay Bybee would not have been approved as a federal appeals judge if the Senate had known Bybee signed a controversial memo regarding interrogations of suspected terrorists. (Review-Journal)

A former Washoe County water engineer surrendered to sheriff's deputies in Reno to face charges that he embezzled millions of dollars from the county water division and gambled away more than $1 million of it at a local casino. (Review-Journal)

A federal grand jury indicted a Las Vegas real estate broker and her husband who were charged in March with defrauding federally-insured financial institutions of millions of dollars in order to inflate housing values, using straw purchasers and limited liability companies. The couple is also charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, 13 counts of bank fraud and criminal forfeiture. (Las Vegas Sun) The U.S. Attorney expects more arrests to come. (Reno Gazette-Journal)

Congratulations to California attorney Monica R. Dean, who joined the law firm of Lovaas & Lehtinen, P.C. (PR Web)

The effort to recall two Boulder City politicians is headed towards the Courts. (Las Vegas Sun)

There aren't many fines being issued for violations of the smoking ban. (Las Vegas Sun)

Attorneys on both sides are working on voir dire questions to choose a jury for the O.J. trial [pt 2]. (Las Vegas Now)

An interview with Josh Resiman from Ballard Spahr about oral argument before the Ninth Circuit in the landmark affordable housing/disability rights case. (In Business Las Vegas)

A letter to the editor says Judge Mosely may have some ethical problems, but he's tough on criminals. (Review-Journal)

The Las Vegas City Council may have found a compromise in the marriage soliciting wars: solicitors would have to stand in designed soliciting zones. (Las Vegas Sun)

Federal government attorneys are pushing for U.S. District Judge Philip Pro to intervene and save the possible sale of the Crazy Horse Too strip club. (Las Vegas Sun)

Embattled Ninth Circuit Judge Kozinski has hired Mark Holscher of Kirkland & Ellis to represent him in a pending judicial misconduct inquiry. (WSJ)

Emails sent by University of Nevada-Reno police will be scanned by school administrators to ensure campus police are no longer circulating porn. (Review-Journal)

Fri Round Up

Judge Glass will decide today whether to bi-furcate O.J.'s trial and whether the charges should be dropped against the Juice. (ABC News) Schedule for the hearing available on LV Courts website.

And in UNLV-alumni news: UNLV grad and former professional baseball player Matt Williams was called to testify in the wiretapping case against Anthony Pellicano. Pellicano apparently offer to wiretap the phone of Williams' ex-wife (Review-Journal)

Up in Reno, Federal Judge Brian Sandoval refused to let "Girls Gone Wild" creator Joe Francis to be released from a Nevada jail without being sent back to Florida on charges he filmed underage girls topless (Review-Journal) [Is there no decency left in this country? Why must we persecute the poor Girls Gone Wild guy?]

And in Vegas Federal Court, Judge Phillip Pro declared a mistrial for the third time in the federal methamphetamine distribution trial of Anthony Eppolito and Guido Bravatti. This time, the mistrial was declared when a government referred "to a potentially prejudicial conversation he had at a restaurant with Louis Eppolito and Caracappa just before phoning Bravatti to set up what the government argues was a drug transaction." (Review-Journal)