-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: July 16, 2007 6:23:42 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Bush's "Justice" Department a Travesty of JUSTICE
"I Accuse"… 44 Attorney Generals Demand
an Inquiry Into the Siegelman Prosecution
Scott Horton
Harpers, July 16, 2007
http://harpers.org/archive/2007/07/hbc-90000530
The most famous newspaper headline of all time: Zola denounces the
unjust conviction of Capt Dreyfus
Today forty-four attorneys general from 40 of the 50 states of the
Union petition the United States Congress [PDF] demanding formal
inquiry into the prosecution of Don Siegelman, former Governor of
Alabama, who was falsely charged, tried and convicted in federal
court proceedings in Alabama. These proceedings constitute an
indelible stain on our nation's reputation for justice, which
cannot be purged until the proceedings are nullified and those who
committed these crimes mockingly in the name of justice are held
accountable for their misconduct.
A Shocking Miscarriage of Justice
The forty-four attorneys general, Democrats and Republicans alike,
drawn from across the country point to these badges of injustice in
the Siegelman case (my comments in italics):
(1) Governor Siegelman is currently incarcerated at a Bureau of
Prisons facility, having been refused release on bail pending
appeal. Indeed, he was even denied 45 days to report to prison to
give him time to put his affairs in order, an opportunity which is
commonly granted. This can only be understood in terms of the
political theater orchestrated by the Bush Justice Department and
the judge hearing the case, a Republican political activist.
(2) A lawyer who had worked in the campaign of Governor Siegelman’s
opponent in the 2006 gubernatorial contest has sworn in a recent
affidavit that the spouse of the federal prosecutor in this case
stated that his wife and another federal prosecutor would “take
care of” Mr. Siegelman and that he had talked with a political
operative for the White House concerning such assurances. The name
of the political operative is Karl Rove, and the political
manipulation of prosecutions to “take care” of political
adversaries is his calling card.
(3) In an unrelated but recent case, a low-level employee in
another state administration was prosecuted and convicted by
another U.S. Attorney before a U.S. Court of Appeals ordered her
immediate release from prison and reversed the trial verdict
calling the prosecution evidence “beyond thin.”
(4) Another former Governor of Alabama was convicted of corruption
charges a few years ago in a case where he personally benefited
from his action and was sentenced to probation. That case was
handled by the same lead prosecutor as in the Siegelman case. There
is a striking difference: the former governor actually secured
personal gain from the alleged corruption, Siegelman did not—even
accepting the allegations of the prosecution as true, but they are
not. How to distinguish these two cases? One involves a Republican,
the other a Democrat. This is Bush justice, of the same sort meted
out in Bush’s commutation of the sentence of his felonious national
security advisor, Scooter Libby.
(5) The sentence sought by the prosecutor in Governor Siegelman’s
case–30 years–was excessively disproportionate, and the sentence
imposed — 7 years, 4 months — was harsh.
(6) There are numerous apparently legitimate (and arguably
compelling) appealable issues in this case, as confirmed by a
number of legal scholars. There have been allegations of jury
misconduct and the possible introduction of extrinsic evidence into
the jury deliberation process that have not been fully
investigated. For this reason, and because Governor Siegelman is
not in any way a flight risk, the denial of a bond pending appeal
appears inappropriate, and the shackling of the Governor in
handcuffs and leg irons as he was taken out of the courtroom was
shocking.
Zola Speaks Again
The Bush Administration’s Department of Justice, with corrupt and
malicious motive and intent, and in unseemly connivance with the
Administration’s political retainers in Alabama, conceived and
pursued a prosecution against Don Siegelman, through a grotesque
and partisan perversion of justice, secured his conviction. This
was done for a criminally corrupt purpose—in order to eliminate a
popular elected official of an opposing party and to cement the
Republican Party’s control over all attributes of state and federal
power in Alabama, and to help bolster the fundraising advantages of
the Alabama Republican Party by making those who donate to its
opponents fear prosecution.
Dare to tell the truth, as we pledge to tell it, in full, since the
normal channels of justice have failed to do so. Our duty is to
speak out; we do not wish to be an accomplice in this travesty.
The truth, first of all, about Siegelman’s trial and conviction: At
the root of it all is a group of evil men whose motivations are,
and have from the beginning been, the basest political
manipulations. The trial was a mockery and a farce which shamed and
disgraced our courts, pursued by prosecutors who scorn justice and
presided over by a judge who showed it only contempt.
Throughout they acted with the concerted aim of manipulating
popular opinion for partisan political purposes. The public was
astounded; rumors flew of the most horrible acts, the most
monstrous deceptions, lies that were an affront to our history. The
public, naturally, was taken in. No punishment could be too harsh.
The people clamored for the humiliation of the defendant.
How flimsy it is! The fact that someone could have been convicted
on this charge is the ultimate iniquity. I defy decent men to read
it without a stir of indignation in their hearts and a cry of
revulsion, at the thought of the undeserved punishment being meted
out. And how childish and irrational the charges are, how
groundless the accusations! How the majesty of the nation’s name
and its prosecutorial authority was degraded by this spite and
malice. It is said that within the deliberation room, the jurors
were naturally leaning toward acquittal. Then machinations began to
pressure the jurors improperly. Evidence of this was produced, and
swept aside by the judge, who refused to make serious inquiry. This
judge was not impartial, but bent on an injustice. I know of no
greater crime against the state than the one committed here.
And now the prosecutors and the judge who committed this travesty
will attempt to conceal their wrongdoing with claims of secrecy.
Enough! Let truth be on the march. Let their misdeeds in the name
of justice be fully exposed to the light of day, and let them be
punished.
An iniquitous verdict has been rendered that will forever weigh
upon our courts and will henceforth cast a shadow of suspicion on
all their judgments. The conduct of this court is inescapably
criminal. We are told of the honor of the courts; we are supposed
to love and respect them. But this is not about those courts, whose
dignity we are seeking, in our cry for justice.
Ah, what a cesspool of folly and foolishness, what preposterous
fantasies, what corrupt police tactics, what inquisitorial,
tyrannical practices! What petty whims of a few higher-ups
trampling the nation under their boots, ramming back down their
throats the people’s cries for truth and justice, with the travesty
of partisan politics as a pretext.
It is a crime to lie to the public, to twist public opinion to
insane lengths in the service of the vilest death-dealing
machinations. It is a crime to poison the minds of the meek and the
humble, to stoke the passions of with false charges.
Truth and justice, so ardently longed for! How terrible it is to
see them trampled, unrecognized and ignored!
Truth is on the march, and nothing will stop it. This court and
these prosecutors have, decidedly, a most singular and perverse
idea of justice.
This is the plain truth and it is terrifying. I repeat with the
most vehement conviction: truth is on the march, and nothing will
stop it. Today is only the beginning, for it is only today that the
positions have become clear: on one side, those who are guilty, who
do not want the light to shine forth, on the other, those who seek
justice and who will give their lives to attain it. I said it
before and I repeat it now: when truth is buried underground, it
grows and it builds up so much force that the day it explodes it
blasts everything with it. We shall see whether we have been
setting ourselves up for the most resounding of disasters, yet to
come.
I accuse the court of allowing farcical charges to proceed before
it, of doing manifest injustice and colluding in the conviction of
an innocent man. The pursuit of justice must now be unrelenting.
Without it we surrender to the forces of tyranny which are now
descending upon our country.
With apologies to Emile Zola.
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