'Outside the record': Rogue federal judge blasted for making bizarre YouTube gun video
A conservative federal judge was criticized by his colleagues after he went rogue and posted a dissent in a gun law case on YouTube.
In a 147-page ruling on Thursday, a 7-4 panel of judges upheld California's ban on large gun magazines.
United States Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke took the unusual step of dissenting in an 18-minute YouTube video, which included his handling of guns and magazines.
The majority of the court blasted VanDyke in the ruling.
"Concurring in full in the majority opinion, Judge Berzon, joined by Chief Judge Murguia, and Judges Hurwitz, Paez, S.R. Thomas, and Wardlaw, wrote separately to address Judge VanDyke's dissent, which includes a link to a video that he recorded showing him handling several different handguns and explaining his understanding of their mechanics and operation," the ruling said. "Judge Berzon pointed out two problems with Judge VanDyke's reliance on the video: (1) The video is not part of his written dissent and it includes facts outside the record."
The majority also noted that "VanDyke has in essence appointed himself as an expert witness in this case, providing a factual presentation with the express aim of convincing the readers of his view of the facts without complying with any of the procedural safeguards that usually apply to experts and their testimony, while simultaneously serving on the panel deciding the case."
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In his video, VanDyke called the majority's decision to uphold the ban on magazines with more than 10 rounds "inconsistent with reality."
"I originally planned to explain all of this in writing in my opinion and why the argument doesn't make sense, but it occurred to me that in this instance, showing is much more effective than telling," the judge said. "As the old saying goes, a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words, and here I hope you will agree that a video is at least worth that much."