Scott Horton, of Harper's has a superb piece today about the critical role that federal prosecutors play in our democracy, and how the trust prosecutors have traditionally held has been steadily eroded in recent years.
The misdeeds of numerous federal prosecutors is in the process of being exposed, especially in states such as Alabama, Mississippi, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. But Horton says that exposing the wrongdoing is not enough. He says a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate cases that appear to have been politically manipulated.
I think this is an excellent idea, but I hope a special prosecutor would look at both sides of the selective-prosecution issue. The emphasis, so far, has been on cases (such as the Don Siegelman case) where the Bush Department of Justice (DOJ) appears to have gone after someone for political reasons. But there also are cases where the Bush DOJ does not go after people, true wrongdoers, for political reasons.
That's what I've experienced here at Legal Schnauzer. While the Republican-led DOJ goes after Democrats like Siegelman in Alabama or Paul Minor/Wes Teel/John Whitfield in Mississippi, it ignores wrongdoing that I have witnessed by Republican judges in Alabama.
In fact, I have evidence of how Alice Martin, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, has taken affirmative steps to sweep the Legal Schnauzer case under the proverbial rug. I will be posting about that in detail in the days ahead.
One other point to add to Horton's piece. He focuses on federal prosecutors, but I have witnessed abuse of power by state prosecutors as well. I saw prosecutors in Shelby County, Alabama, butcher a case in which I was the victim of criminal trespass. The poor handling of the case--along with a corrupt judge--led to an acquittal, which allowed the trespasser to sue me for malicious prosecution. More recently, the same guy who trespassed committed felony assault against me. But Shelby County prosecutors are insisting it was misdemeanor assault, contrary to the clearly written Alabama statute (and case law). I refuse to sign a criminal complaint for a misdemeanor when I know it is a felony, so the guy is likely to get away with another crime.
Much more to come on the subject of corrupt state prosecutors in Alabama.
5 comments:
Roger, you've been promising to provide specifics about your case for month, yet you never do. What credibility you might have had was destroyed long ago when you became a partisan hack who, so far, has not offered one single fact to support your claims of selective prosecution. Either provide specifics to back up your claims or shut up. Your whining is tiresome.
You might not understand how blogs work.
Thousands of blogs are started each day, and they total in the millions. To cut through all of that garbage and develop an audience takes time.
To even get to where a blog shows up on search engines takes time. In short, there is a lot more to having an effective blog--particularly on an important topic such as judicial corruption--than just writing posts.
The issues in my case are similar to those currently on the national stage--the DOJ scandal, Don Siegelman prosecution, Karl Rove influence in Alabama, etc. I've been focusing on those broader issues and writing about my case in general terms while building an audience.
Feedback I'm receiving indicates my audience is growing steadily, particularly for a blog that is barely three months old.
My goal here is simple: To tell the story of judicial corruption in Alabama to as broad an audience as possible, with hopes of furthering the cause of justice in our state and nation.
Like most other bloggers, I juggle this blog along with many other responsibilities--a fulltime job, a wife and family, a home. The story might not unfold as quickly as you, or I, would like. But we are getting there.
I'm the captain of this ship, and I will get to the specifics when I feel the time is right. But rest assured they are coming.
Meanwhile, you are welcome to start your own blog and criticize me to your heart's content. But a word of caution: I know what I'm doing and I know what I'm talking about.
And I suspect you know that or you wouldn't be reading.
I'm only reading because I want to know what bone head thing you are going to say next.
Well good. Hope you will keep reading.
I will keep reading. I would get my own blog, but I'm not as brave as you. I wonder how many of us are out there too afraid to speak up. You have real courage.
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