United States v. Ramess Nakhleh

COLE, Chief Judge.

We have all been frustrated at one time or another by red tape. Fewer of us have grown frustrated because of tape in a more literal sense. But it was tape-or, really, the lack of tape-that sparked the encounter we consider in this matter. Upset by postal employees and their refusal to provide him with tape to seal a box, Ramess Nakhleh engaged in an escalating series of acts that distracted postal workers, interfered in their ability to serve customers, and culminated in an implied bomb threat and the post office's brief closure. In so doing, Nakhleh violated a regulation…