From today’s Projo story on the Taricani case:

Yesterday, as Taricani’s legal team has argued in the past, Murphy challenged DeSisto’s authority to prosecute the contempt case against Taricani. He asserted that only the U.S. Attorney’s office has jurisdiction to prosecute such cases.

Here’s part of Judge Torres’ response, where he explains why it is necessary for the courts to assume the function of enforcing the law in this case.

The judge also said he felt the U.S. Attorney’s office had a conflict of interest because someone in that department could have been Taricani’s source.

That lays it out pretty clearly. Taricani’s lawyers are concerned with judicial usurpation of the enforcement function of government. Torres agrees there is usurpation, but says it’s necessary for the greater good.