Nazareth Mayor: "I Don't Care What a Judge says"

From Carl Strye's Facebook 

Let's get something clear here. Nazareth Mayor Carl Strye, a carwash salesman, never bothered to show his face in the courtroom when District Judge Jacqueline Taschner, a former cryptanalyst who also served as an Assistant District Attorney, acquitted the Sticker Gang of all charges in a ridiculous and vindictive prosecution inspired by a thin-skinned police chief who hated being criticized. The sole Council member who did go, Frank Maurek, was disgusted by the ineptitude displayed. Putting the Constitution aside, there simply was no evidence to establish that defendants Trevor Gehret, Jeremy Peters and Dan Logothetis did anything wrong. It was a trumped up case brought by bullies.

At the time, Hizzoner told a reporter he supported Judge Taschner's decision, not that it's needed. That was a bold-faced lie. Yesterday, he told The Express Times what he really thinks, "I don't care what a judge says." He also complains that the Sticker Gang, whose case he never saw in a courtroom, "didn't get any kind of sentencing, they were sort of let go." Incredibly, speaking as the Mayor of Nazareth, he defames three innocent people who were already publicly humiliated in a staged perp walk.

Strye is reacting to the story, which first appeared here yesterday, that someone is plastering stickers in Nazareth again. There are big differences from what happened earlier this summer.

First, these stickers are a lot bigger. Nobody except those on foot noticed the postage-stamp sized stickers. These are easily visible to drivers.

Second, these stickers are a traffic hazard. Most have been placed on stop signs. The tiny stickers went on park benches, water fountains and other innocuous spots.

Third, these stickers don't say anything. They are Chicago Bulls logos. The tiny FT stickers, critical of  police chief Thomas Trachta, were an expression of core political speech.

Finally, and this fact seems to have eluded both Hizzoner and Trachta, I'm told these stickers have been spotted in Bushkill and Palmer Townships, Most seem to be around the high school and elementary school. The FT stickers were limited to the downtown section of Nazareth.

My guess is that whoever is doing this has probably never even heard of the Sticker Gang. But Strye uses this as an opportunity to both bash a judge and question why innocent people escaped a sentence in a case he never bothered to watch.

When Strye states he "does not care what a judge says," what he is really saying is that he can ignore the rule of law. When he states that innocent people should have been sentenced, despite never having witnessed the hopeless prosecution, he is again saying he can ignore the rule of law.

When we have a Mayor who effectively thumbs his nose at the courts and out criminal justice system, can he really expect others to follow the law? He is setting a terrible example.