Alan Wessman

@alanwessman.bsky.social

1373 Followers 1184 Following

Current Utah House candidate, district 64 (Spanish Fork), unaffiliated. https://electawessman.com I seek good, ethical, responsible, effective government. Husband, dad, hiker, misplacer of common household items.

Case 1:26-CV-20609-KMW Document 106 Entered on FLSD Docket 07/13/2026 Page 38 of 56 […] Having concluded that this action was presented for an improper purpose, the Court now turns to the question of sanctions. This inquiry proceeds under two independent, but overlapping frameworks: Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 and the Court's inherent authority. B. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 1159 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 ("Rule 11") governs the filings of pleadings, motions, and other papers with the Court. "The purpose of Rule 11 is to deter baseless filings in [the] district court and thus streamline the administration and procedure of federal […] [Footnote 59] As acknowledged by the non-party movants, Rule 60(d)(3) allows the Court to "set aside a judgment for fraud on the Court." FED. R. CIv. P. 60(D)(3); see also Bevan v. Lee Cnty. SO, 224 F. App'x 880, 882 (11th Cir. 2007) ("A federal court can vacate its own judgment upon proof that a fraud has been perpetrated on the court.") (citing Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32, 44 (1991)). The Court notes that it possesses the authority to protect the integrity of these proceedings under Rule 11 and its inherent authority, and so it need not invoke Rule 60(d)(3). However, this decision should not be understood as a final determination regarding any fraud perpetrated on the court and does not foreclose the possibility of future relief under Rule 60(d)(3). See SEC v. ESM Grp., Inc., 835 F.2d 270, 273(11th Cir. 1988) ("Fraud that prevents the functioning of the judicial process does not have to be brought within any specific period of time."). Accordingly, the Court expresses no view as to whether the requirements of Rule 60(d)(3) have been satisfied. Page 38 of 56
Screenshotted skeet from altNOAA with caption and photo. The caption: Beluga Whale Escapes Research Facility And Swims Hundreds Of Miles Back To Her Baby. It is wrong and immoral to hold beings of self awareness captive if they have committed no crimes. The photo depicts a whale leaping out of an enclosure. It is photorealistic but is AI generated.
Painting of three men and a woman in a small fishing boat on a lake with choppy waters somewhere in southern Germany. The men are standing in the boat, drawing in nets; the woman sits astern with an oar in her hands. In the distance are trees and mountains, and above a patch of dark clouds creeps in below a pastel spread of light clouds and clear skies.
Screenshot with the following passages from the filing highlighted: The reason for this clause is that people and companies, who have given, or will be giving, millions of dollars to the Center were only willing to do so with the name "Trump" on the Building. Many did it because they loved the concept of two Great Presidents, one Republican, one Democrat, working together as one - In many ways, a bipartisan relationship! All of this money, hundreds of millions of dollars, will have to be immediately returned, or not received by the Center. No one else other than President Trump would be in the position of both rebuilding the Building, and raising the money for its operation. As an example, President Trump has already raised, from Congress, $258 Million Dollars for construction of the new and highly improved Trump Kennedy Center, but the district court is not even allowing us to properly do that. We ask for the court's reversal on both name and construction or, at least, a stay. The district court doesn't want it to close so that complex, high level construction can be completed (which cannot be done without the Building being closed). Therefore, we would also like approval to immediately start spending the money, not only from an aesthetic point of view, but also from a structural and safety standpoint. People entering the Building under present conditions will be in serious danger, and risk of injury, or beyond. Certain areas are already roped off for this reason. The Building is also in bad shape, and unsightly to look at, a constant source of […]
Photo of a cerulean blue lake nestled between steep forested hills, with snow capped mountains in the background under a brilliant blue sky.
Photo of a forest path flanked by towering evergreens and verdant undergrowth, illuminated by the rising sun.
Screenshot of a Bluesky post from the author that reads: The phrase "Fuck _", aimed at a target of contempt, excuses and reinforces the use of sexual assault as a means of punishment. People have the freedom of speech to use it, but should voluntarily choose to avoid it as with other toxic forms of speech.
The Creation of The Great Salt Lake Act establishes a Quantum Congress and the role of Planetary Information Security Officer with the purpose of immediately restoring The Great Salt Lake and establishing protection from Planetary Threats putting at risk our shared existence, and to bring an age of World Peace.
Utah County Forward Party, representing our values of grassroots organizing and of defending the Constitution and the rule of law! Photo of several party members with signs in front of a table of Forward Party paraphernalia.
Statutes current through all legislation from First Regular and Extraordinary Sessions, 75th General Assembly (2025). Colorado Revised Statutes Annotated > Title 1. Elections (§§ 1-1-101 - 1-47-302) > Election Campaign Regulations (Arts. 45 - 46) > Article 45. Fair Campaign Practices Act (§§ 1-45-101 - 1-45-118). 1-45-115. Encouraging withdrawal from campaign prohibited. No person shall offer or give any candidate or candidate committee any money or any other thing of value for the purpose of encouraging the withdrawal of the candidate's candidacy, nor shall any candidate offer to withdraw a candidacy in return for money or any other thing of value.
Photo of a hat on the left side of a plaque that says “UTAH”
The No Secret Police Act's facial covering prohibition applies to "law enforcement officers," who are defined as any "peace officer, as defined in Section 830 [of the Cal. Penal Code], employed by a city, county, or other local agency as well as any officer or agent of a federal law enforcement agency or any law enforcement agency of another state or any person acting on behalf of a federal law enforcement agency or law enforcement agency of another state." SB 627 § 3(e). This definition does not "single out" the federal government because it also applies to local law enforcement officers and law enforcement officers for states other than California. However, it excludes California state law enforcement officers, such as California Highway Patrol officers. (Additional text in image omitted due to space constraints. See original document.)
Defendants have not responded adequately or at all. Significantly, in relation to the Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, the Court directed Defendants to submit documentary evidence of certain specific actions relating to the shutdown of USAID, which presumably would have identified the date of the action and the authorizing official, but Defendants failed to provide evidence addressing these issues in relation to certain key decisions, including the decision to shut down USAID headquarters and to shut down the USAID website. Does I, 771 F. Supp.3d at 663-64. Assuming that Defendants complied with the Court's Order in good faith, they have effectively acknowledged that these orders were given orally, with no documentary record, such that the only evidence on these questions would be the oral testimony of the offcials present when the decisions were made. Defendants notably have never, in relation to that Order or otherwise, identified any lower-ranking officials who were present when such decisions were made. Accordingly, the Court finds that there is no alternative to the proposed depositions of Musk, Marocco, and Lewin.
Bio of article’s author with a headshot and the following text: Asra Q. Nomani Asra Q. Nomani is senior editor of investigations at Fox News Digital. She is a former reporter at the Wall Street Journal, where she covered stories related to money, politics and society. She is the author of "Woke Army: The Left-Green Alliance That Is Undermining America's Freedom." A former professor in the practice of journalism at Georgetown University, she investigated the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. She can be reached at asra.nomani@fox.com and on X at @asranomani.
The memo, signed by the acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons, and dated May 12, 2025, says: "Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not historically relied on administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal in their place of residence, the DHS Office of the General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose."
Finally, the record is well established that the grand jury was originally presented with a three-count indictment, signed by the prosecutor. ECF 3, 10. The grand jury, however, rejected Count 1 of the original indictment and found probable cause as to the two remaining counts. Id. At some point, the prosecutor prepared and signed a second indictment that removed Count 1 of the original indictment. ECF 10, 188-1. At the return of the indictment, the government presented both the first and second indictments to the magistrate judge. ECF 10. The first indictment indicated that the grand jury failed to find probable cause as to any count. ECF 3, 10. The second indictment indicated that the grand jury found probable cause as to two counts. ECF 1, 10. Both indictments were fully executed by grand jury foreperson and the prosecutor. ECF 1, 3, 10. Presented with two facially inconsistent indictments, the magistrate judge questioned the grand jury foreperson and the prosecutor to unwind this procedural knot. Id. The magistrate judge then 16
Issues Regarding the Completeness of the Grand Jury Transcript and Audio Recording, and the Manner in Which the Second Indictment was Presented to the Grand Jury Finally, the record is well established that the grand jury was originally presented with a three-count indictment, signed by the prosecutor. ECF 3, 10. The grand jury, however, rejected Count 1 of the original indictment and found probable cause as to the two remaining counts. Id. At some point, the prosecutor prepared and signed a second indictment that removed Count 1 of the original indictment. ECF 10, 188-1. At the return of the indictment, the government presented both the first and second indictments to the magistrate judge. ECF 10. The first indictment indicated that the grand jury failed to find probable cause as to any count. ECF 3, 10. The second indictment indicated that the grand jury found probable cause as to two counts. ECF 1, 10. Both indictments were fully executed by grand jury foreperson and the prosecutor. ECF 1, 3, 10. Presented with two facially inconsistent indictments, the magistrate judge questioned the grand jury foreperson and the prosecutor to unwind this procedural knot. Id. The magistrate judge then accepted the return of the second signed indictment. Id. The second indictment was a new indictment and therefore the undersigned concluded after reviewing the grand jury transcript that the prosecutor would have presented the second indictment to the grand jury for consideration before it was returned in open court. It now appears that may not have happened.
Photo of a night sky with a pink auroral glow shimmering above a distant mountain. There are faint hints of vertical structure in the aurora but it’s mostly just a large pink patch in the sky.
It is undisputed that the 2011 map is unconstitutionally malapportioned under both the federal and Utah constitutions. It is likewise indisputable that the absence of a lawful congressional map is unsustainable. See 2 U.S.C. §2c (requiring states to create single-member congressional districts). Even if Legislative Defendants were correct (they are not) that Proposition 4 does not authorize a court-imposed map, no one disputes that state courts are empowered-and in fact on many occasions have the "unwelcome obligation"—to remedy an unconstitutionally malapportioned map or the absence of a legal one. The U.S. Supreme Court and federal and state courts across the country have recognized as much for ecades. See Scott v. Germano, 381 U.S. 407,409 (1965) (*The power of the judiciary of a State to require valid reapportionment or to formulate a valid redistricting plan has not only been recognized by this Court but appropriate action by the States in such cases has been specifically encouraged."); Growe v. Emison, 507 U.S. 25 (1993); see also Wattson v. Simon, 970 N.W.2d 56 (Minn. 2022); Johnson v. Wis. Elections Comm'n, 967 N.W.2d 469 (Wis. 2021); Alexander v. Taylor, 51 P.3d 1204,1208 (Okla. 2002); Clarke v. Wis. Elections Comm'n, 998 N. W.2d 370,396 (Wis. 2023); Norelli v. Sec. of State, 292 A.3d 458,462-64 (N.H. 2022). State and federal courts recognize that in the absence of a legally compliant map, courts are empowered to take necessary action to ensure a legally compliant map is in place. See, e.g., Maryland Comm. for Fair Representation v. Tawes, 377 U.S. 656,676 (1964) (finding that Maryland's state legislative maps violated the U.S. Constitution and allowing the Legislature the opportunity to redraw the maps, but noting that the Court should take action if the legislature fails to enact a legally valid map, and that "under no circumstances should the [upcoming] election...be permitted to be conducted pursuant to the existing or any other unconstitutional plan");
Moreover, such a definition would be difficult to square with the argument President Trump himself recently made to this Court (in his capacity as a then-former President) that the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 did not amount to even an "insurrection," let alone a "rebellion," because it "did not involve an organized attempt to overthrow or resist the U.S. Government." Reply Brief for Petitioner in Trump v. Anderson, No. 23-719, at 15 (Feb. 2024), 601 U.S. 100 (2024). Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment imposes its disqualification rule upon covered persons who "shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the [United States]" If the Solicitor General were correct that any "violent resistance to lawful authority, including to the enforcement of particular laws," establishes a rebellion, then the January 6 uprising obviously would have qualified as a "rebellion," in which case it would have served no purpose for former President Trump to argue to this Court that it was not even an "insurrection." See General Orders No. 100: Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field Art. 151 (the so-called "Lieber Code," issued by President Lincoln on April 24, 1863) ("The term rebellion is applied to an insurrection of large extent, and is usually a war between the legitimate government of a country and portions of provinces of the same who seek to throw off their allegiance to it and set up a government of their own."). It is, therefore, very unlikely Applicants will be able to successfully defend the President's actions on the basis of the Solicitor General's virtually unbounded definition of "rebellion."
olofahere Do not punish the behaviour you want to see I mean, it seems pretty obvious when you put it like that, right? But how many families, when an introvert sibling or child makes an effort to socialize, snarkily say, "So, you've decided to join us"? Or when someone does something they've had trouble doing, say, "Why can't you do that all the time?" (Happened to me, too often.) Or any sentence containing the word "finally". If someone makes a step, a small step, in a direction you want to encourage, encourage it. Don't complain about how it's not enough. Don't bring up previous stuff. Encourage it. Because I swear to f. cking god there is nothing more soul-killing, more motivation-crushing, than struggling to succeed and finding out that success and failure are both punished. Source: olofahere
Photo of a plate of naan, lightly buttered and with bits of parsley sprinkled on top.
Screenshot from the following excerpt of the bill text (line numbers included): 104 (iii) that allocates votes for an independent 105 general election candidate to a political party if the independent candidate attempted to 106 win the nomination of the political party at a primary election or party convention for the same general election.
Screenshot of bill status page at https://le.utah.gov/~2025S1/bills/static/SB1011.html
12. In addition, Proposition 4 included an express prohibition on partisan gerrymandering and specified the situations in which the Legislature and Commission could consider partisan information, stating: (3) The Legislature and the Commission may not divide districts in a manner that purposefully or unduly favors or disfavors any incumbent elected official, candidate or prospective candidate for elective office, or any political party. (4) The Legislature and the Commission shall use judicial standards and the best available data and scientific and statistical methods, including measures of partisan symmetry, to assess whether a proposed redistricting plan abides by and conforms to the redistricting standards contained in this Section, including the restrictions contained in Subsection (3).
Photo of a sunlit mountain with vibrant yellow and green colors. A cloud over the mountain drops rain on the slope and a bright rainbow shines on the edge of the curtain of rain.
Photo of a mountain setting with green, gold, and red aspens with their characteristic long white trunks.
Photo of a peaceful, clean, largely empty downtown sidewalk and street in Portland, Oregon, USA on a drizzly afternoon.
New Yorker Cartoon by Paul Noth depicting sheep in a field under a billboard of a wolf declaring “I WILL EAT YOU” and one sheep telling another, “He tells it like it is.” Link to cartoon: https://condenaststore.com/featured/he-tells-it-like-it-is-paul-noth.html
Photo of a book cover with this text: FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV BICENTENNIAL EDITION TRANSLATED BY RICHARD PEVEAR AND LARISSA VOLOKHONSKY
"The people of Utah can have new congressional maps in place for the 2026 congressional elections. Or they can have new congressional maps resulting from a process that follows all of Proposition 4, which the district court has concluded now governs redistricting in Utah. But given the election calendar, Utahns cannot have both," Tyler Green, an attorney representing the legislature said in the appeal.
Screenshot from Wikipedia article on the classical music form “scherzo,” which is an Italian word for joke or jest.
Screenshot from Wikipedia showing an insertion of adulatory text into the Robert E. Lee article by a pseudonymous user named CivilWar1865.
Photo of a large smoke plume rising from behind the shoulder of a mountain, with a puffy cumulus cloud atop the plume.
Mr. Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to Mira Nair, an acclaimed film director who grew up in India and later emigrated to the United States, and Mahmood Mamdani, then a college professor at Makerere University. Both his parents are of Indian descent, but his father's family came to East Africa more than 100 years ago, Mr. Mamdani said.
Photo of part of a garden. Fuchsia-colored flowers in globular clusters appear in the foreground, with purple and yellow asters in the mid ground and a tuft of white daisy buds next to them. A shaded lawn and sidewalk are in the background.
Screenshot from the article posted at the top of the thread, showing two pages from the book that Justice Barrett referred to as depicting a “drag queen” and “drag king.”
Photo of a sunset-illuminated lake with several silhouetted waterfowl swimming among scattered thin reeds.
Scene of several waterfowl swimming among the thin reeds, backlit by a rippling lake reflecting the evening sky.
As a matter of mathematics, this is an unfavorable structure for the plaintiffs. Between the four Winter factors themselves, several threshold jurisdictional questions, and the alleged Privacy Act violation, this case involves several issues that are each potentially dispositive of the appeal. To win, the government need only prevail on one of them; the plaintiffs, on the other hand, must prevail on all of them. This inherently lowers the plaintiffs' odds of success and correspondingly raises the government's. Even if the plaintiffs have a high probability of success on any one issue, the fact that they must run the table to receive their desired relief craters their overall odds. As probabilities are multiplied, their product shrinks rapidly, which means the mere existence of multiple hurdles tips the scales against granting a preliminary injunction. (Footnote 2) An example for clarity: If the plaintiffs in a case had a 75% chance of prevailing on each of five independent issues, but they needed to prevail on all of them to receive relief, then their likelihood of overall success is (0.75) = ~24%. Despite being 3:1favorites on each issue, the plaintiffs end up as 3:1 underdogs. And the other side's odds are mirrored. Despite being 3:1 underdogs on each issue, the defendants become 3:1 favorites to prevail in the case overall.
Sovereign immunity bars “a suit by private parties seeking to impose a liability which must be paid from public funds in the … treasury.” Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 663 (1974). But that is exactly what the District Court ordered here. See App. to Application to Vacate Order 85a–86a (“[T]he restrained defendants shall pay all invoices and letter of credit drawdown requests on all contracts for work completed prior to the entry of the Court’s TRO on February 13”).
Screenshot of a text conversation. Them: Have you seen the movie The Last Samurai? Me: No. Me: That was the sequel to The Penultimate Samurai wasn’t it? Them: (laughing emoji)
*Update, February 3, 2025: The legislation states that "a form of identification issued consistent with the requirements of the Real ID Act of 2005 that indicates the applicant is a citizen of the United States" can be used to prove citizenship. However, the Real ID Act of 2005 does not include a federal requirement for Real IDs to indicate citizenship status, and no state's Real ID indicates citizenship status on the card. Legally residing noncitizens can also get a Real ID. As it stands, this is an unworkable provision of the legislation, unless the standard for Real IDs is federally changed. Similarly, as tribal and military IDs do not indicate citizenship status, they need to be shown in conjunction with other documentation that does, meaning that alone, they do not satisfy the bill's requirements.
79-6-1101. Utah Energy Council -- Creation and purpose. (1)There is created within the office the Utah Energy Council. (2)The purpose of the council is to facilitate the development of electrical energy generation and transmission projects within the state, including: (a)power plants; (b)transmission lines; (c)energy storage facilities; and (d)related infrastructure. Section 6, Section 79-6-1102 is enacted to read: 79-6-1102. Council composition. (1)The council shall be composed of: (a)the director or the director's designee, who shall serve as chair of the council; (b)two individuals appointed by the governor; (c)one individual appointed by the president of the Senate; and (d)one individual appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives.
As of September 30, 2021, the 24 Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act agencies1 employed a total of 636,937 veterans, which comprises approximately 30 percent of the total Federal workforce. The data in this report is a count of all Federal employees in pay status taken at the last pay period or last day of September 2021, a decrease of just 1 percent since Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. However, Table 1 below shows that of the 636,937 total veterans in the Federal workforce for FY 2021: • 337,722 (53%) were Disabled Veterans • 225,411 (35%) were 30% or More Disabled Veterans • 553,142 (87%) received Veterans’ Preference
Screenshot from Day One app showing a streak of 3654 days.
Selfie of the three travelers: on the left is the gently amused dog Winnie, the gregarious brother Rob is center, and your humble narrator is at right trying unsuccessfully to include the Mississippi River in the shot.
Photo of the interior of the airport. Passengers walk through the terminal a little ways ahead, next to shops and restaurants and under a festive collection of large red, gold, and green bulb ornaments suspended from the ceiling.
Aerial photo looking along a rail and highway corridor with a large stadium between, featuring a prominent sign displaying the name of the home team, the Chicago White Sox.
Aerial photo. We are over water that is illuminated by and reflecting a yellow-gray sky of midday autumn. Next to the shore is an arcing jetty with a large marina inside its curve, though no boats are moored to the docks and slips arranged like old-timey radio antennas. The South Side appears onshore and dwindles into the distance.
Aerial photo of downtown Chicago from the south. A massive freeway corridor leads from below our location into the city. The black column and twin white radio masts of the Sears Tower skyscraper mark the western edge of the skyline, and the other towers and buildings cluster together against the backdrop of the lake.
Aerial photo. Another large rail yard runs north-south along the left side of the photo; a large residential area with tightly packed, narrow homes on straight streets, small rectangular blocks tiled together into large square blocks; and in the far distance the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago against the gray-blue waters of Lake Michigan.