Monti Louis Belot (born March 4, 1943) is an inactive Senior United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the District of Kansas The United States District Court for the District of Kansas (in case citations, D. Kan.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Kansas. The Court operates out of the Robert J. Dole United States Courthouse in Kansas Ci ...

Early life and career

Born in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, Belot received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

in 1965 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

University of Kansas School of Law The University of Kansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Kansas, a public research university in Lawrence, Kansas. The University of Kansas Law School was founded in 1893, replacing the earlier Department of Law, which had exi ...

in 1968. He was a

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

Legal officer, in the JAG Corps, from 1968 to 1971. He was a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for Judge Wesley E. Brown of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas from 1971 to 1973. He was an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Un ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

from 1973 to 1976. He was a special assistant to the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

in Topeka from 1976 to 1978. He was in private practice in

, Kansas from 1976 to 1983. He was in private practice in Coffeyville, Kansas from 1983 to 1991.

Federal judicial service

On July 26, 1991, Belot was nominated by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

to a new seat on the

created by 104 Stat. 5089. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on November 21, 1991, and received his commission on November 25, 1991. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on March 4, 2008.

Schneider trial

Belot presided over the trial of Stephen and Linda Schneider, charged with illegally distributing prescription painkillers.

Liptak, Adam Adam Liptak (born September 2, 1960) is an American journalist, lawyer and instructor in law and journalism. He is the Supreme Court correspondent for ''The New York Times''. Liptak has written for ''The New Yorker'', ''Vanity Fair'', ''Rolling ...

(2010-11-01
Outspoken Activist's Case Becomes Tangled in Secrets
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' In that capacity, he threw out all but 4 of the 56 alleged patient overdose deaths Assistant

Tanya Treadway attempted to link to the Schneiders, "sternly warned Treadway not to appeal his decision ndalso instructed the government not to use inflammatory descriptions like '

pill mill A pill mill is an illegal facility that resembles a regular pain clinic, but regularly prescribes painkillers (narcotics) without sufficient medical history, physical examination, diagnosis, medical monitoring, or documentation. Clients of these ...

' in front of the jury." Belot also denied federal prosecutor Tanya Treadway's request for a gag order on

Pain Relief Network Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...

founder and pain relief advocate

Siobhan Reynolds Siobhán is a female given name of Irish origin. The most common anglicisations are Siobhan (identical to the Irish spelling but omitting the acute accent over the 'a'), Shevaun and Shivaun. A now uncommon spelling variant is Siubhán. It is de ...

, as well as her request for a change of venue. Balko, Radley (2010-12-21
The Worst Kind of Ham Sandwich
'' Slate.com'' However, by the time Belot sentenced the Schneiders to 30 years in prison in October 2010, "he was so irritated by Reynolds' advocacy on behalf of the couple that he could not contain himself." In his sentencing opinion, "he digressed to take a swipe at Ms. Reynolds and her group, though he did not get its name quite right," saying "he hoped the prison sentences would 'curtail or stop the activities of the Bozo the Clown outfit known as the Pain Control Network, a

ship of fools The ship of fools is an allegory, originating from Book VI of Plato's ''Republic'', about a ship with a dysfunctional crew. The allegory is intended to represent the problems of governance prevailing in a political system not based on expert kn ...

if there ever was one.' He added that the group and its leaders were 'stupid' and 'deranged.'" Journalist

Jacob Sullum Jacob Z. Sullum (born September 5, 1965) is a syndicated newspaper columnist with Creators Syndicate and a senior editor at ''Reason'' magazine. He focuses most of his writings on shrinking the realm of politics and expanding individual choice. ...

referred to these statements as "an extraordinary tirade against Reynolds and PRN, neither of which was a party to the case," adding:

Is Belot really saying that one function of the heavy sentences imposed on the Schneiders is to deter Reynolds and like-minded activists from speaking out against such prosecutions in the future? That's certainly what it sounds like. Reynolds seems to have a real talent for getting under the skin of people in power. But that is not a crime—or at least it shouldn't be. Sullum, Jacob (2010-11-08
If We Unsealed the Brief, You Might Talk About It
''
Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...
''

References

Sources

*
Sentencing Opinion in the Schneider case
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belot, Monti 1943 births Living people Assistant United States Attorneys Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas People from Coffeyville, Kansas Lawyers from Kansas City, Missouri United States district court judges appointed by George H. W. Bush 20th-century American judges United States Navy officers University of Kansas alumni University of Kansas School of Law alumni 21st-century American judges