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I'm going to file this under 'typical example of the law being a lie". How else can it be explained? Carmen "The Cheese Man" DiNunzio, who was once the (reputed) boss of the Boston mafia, was sentenced today to 6 years in the federal slammer for his bribery conviction for allegedly trying to nail a $6M Big Dig contract by nudging and winking to a man he thought was a state highway inspector, but who happened to be an undercover FBI agent.

I don't care about any of that. It's the stuff of boring "we all know it's wrong" banter, and the only interesting thing about this case is the convict's plus-sized frame with the unironic nickname that refers to his ownership of the now-closed Fresh Cheese shop. Man in mob does mob stuff and gets caught. Big deal.

But, my own interest in this case revolves around a request made by the prosecutor, Assistant US Attorney Peter K. Levitt, that DiNunzio, upon his release from prison, be required, among other actually reasonable and constitutional conditions, to stay out of the North End.

So, lemme get this straight. This guy asked a judge to essentially banish a citizen, albeit a less-than-upstanding one, from an entire section of the city. A public realm. A region that is not legally controlled by some Big Brother as to who comes and goes.

Well, this judge, rightfully mindful of the creepy smell of Shakespearean anti-homage to a corrupt and evil scumbag, King Richard III, who, while also a murderous tyrant, saw fit to banish the citizenry of his kingdom at his maniacal whim, denied said request, which DiNunzio's attorney, Anthony Cardinale, argued would amount to being banished from an important, historic - and PUBLIC! - area of Boston.

* * *

Alas, I again repeat: lemme get this straight! The rights of a man who is convicted and will go to prison for crimes including the aforementioned bribery, as well as conspiracy and illegal gambling, has more protection for his constitutionally guaranteed and protected rights, including due process and the right to representation, than a man (yours truly) who had the unmitigated gall to chose to deny himself his keys until he was sufficiently rested, able to attend and multi-task, and be otherwise fit to drive (fatigue and medical issues - NOT intoxication!)?

Huh? Exactly. Oh - the jackassery of Massasoit's uniformed (ha - unINformed!) finest, including one Officer Christopher O'Sullivan, who made an unlawful arrest on charges of trespassing, AFTER which he wrote up the ex post facto no trespass

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