Appeals Court Wants Federal Government to Explain Involvement in Paul Minor Case

[Hissyspit]

Source: Raw Story

Appeals Court wants federal government to explain involvement in Paul Minor case

May 1st, 2009
By Larisa Alexandrovna

The US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is currently reviewing the case of Mississippi attorney Paul Minor – convicted of bribery and mail fraud charges – has requested that the federal government provide supporting materials to explain its basis for becoming involved in the Minor case. That involvement was based on a contention that state judges are “agents” of the Administrative Office of the Courts, which receives federal funds, thereby placing them under the legal jurisdiction of the federal government.

The specific question raised by the court of appeals is what jurisdiction the federal government had in bringing charges twice against Minor and Judges Wes Teel and John Whitfield. Former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice, Oliver E. Diaz Jr., was also indicted twice, but was acquitted both times. Under the bribery statute used to indict Minor, Teel, Whitfield and Diaz - “18 U.S.C, 666 - the person carrying out the alleged crime must be “an agent of an organization, or of a State, local, or Indian tribal government, or any agency thereof.”

The former US Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, Dunnica Lampton, as well as the Department of Justice on appeal, have argued that Teel and Whitfield were “agents” of a the Administrative Office of the Courts, which gets federal funds, thereby justifying the DOJ’s involvement.

The reality, however, is that judges are not in charge of buying staplers and office furniture, or training clerks in using a computer system. These functions are all administrative and do not involve the judges themselves, who in the state of Mississippi are elected to the bench. The use of the 666 statute has therefore raised many eyebrows, including those of the three-judge panel of the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Minor and his supporters have argued that he was prosecuted as part of a wider scandal involving the Bush administration Department of Justice , which allegedly targeted political opponents for prosecution. Another well-know case involving the same allegations of political prosecution is that of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman.

Read more: http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/05/5th-circuit-court-wants-federal-government-to-explain-involvement-in-the-paul-minor-case/

[babylonsister]

1. Great! nt

[Senator]

2. K&R

[elleng]

3. FABULOUS!!!

We're gonna clean up MissIssIppI; NEXT, AlaBaMa!!!!

There's NOTHING LIKE a good Court of Appeals!!!

[Blackhatjack]

4. This almost never happens, and is bad news for the Bush prosecutors... K & R

[Kingofalldems]

5. Bush loving so-called blue dogs won't like this

[mwb970]

14. bush lovers in general are in for some hard times.

Look at all the crap that has come out in Obama's first three months! Then think of what we'll know a year from now.

I personally think that the crimes of the bush administration were so widespread, so deep, and so revolting to Americans that the authorities will be forced to prosecute these criminals at some point. We can't let Spain do our job for us! The Geneva Convention requires that signatories investigate war crimes by their governments. There is no choice. So let's do it!

[L0oniX]

27. Dems that cave in to bankers and the health insurance industry are also looking at being replaced...

by us.

[Kingofalldems]

33. The Siegelman case also needs to be looked into

[MasonJar]

6. Where is the investigation into the Seigelman case, which is a political

harrassment of a democratic governor, who actually won re-election and was cheated out of his win just like Al Gore and John Kerry? Rove at his best. Enough is enough, Barack. Get on this; these people deserve immediate attention. Put yourself in their place, AG Holder. Would you want to wait around until someone got around to you someday maybe?

[lsewpershad]

29. Yes.

Where is the ivestigation. The shrub's lackeys should be exposed for what they are , criminals.

[bertman]

7. Thanks for the update, Hissyspit. I'm with MasonJar on this. We need some high-level

investigations of these targeted political prosecutions.

Recommend.

[struggle4progress]

8. We should have foreseen W's abuse of the law when SCOTUS handed him the 2000 election:

as a result, we have not only the corrupt lawyering of Yoo and Bybee, and a host of political prosecutions (following a pattern earlier established in Texas) -- we had a wholesale assault on the rule of law

It would be interesting to see a careful examination of W-era political prosecutions. I'd bet that the number of victims is quite substantial: some, like Meg Scott Phipps here in NC, apparently pleaded guilty under threat of endless prosecution; others, like Georgia Thompson in WI, eventually prevailed but at great personal cost


Phipps plea a sham, family claims
Prosecutors used threats, sisters say
Joseph Neff and Kristin Collins - Staff Writers
Published: Fri, Dec. 19, 2003 12:30AM
Meg Scott Phipps walked into federal court in November, swore on a Bible to tell the truth and pleaded guilty to five counts of extortion, fraud and conspiracy. Behind the scenes, her family says the guilty plea was a sham and prosecutors forced Phipps, the former agriculture commissioner, to admit crimes she didn't commit. In e-mail messages to friends, family and state employees, two of Phipps' sisters say federal prosecutors threatened to prosecute Phipps' husband and father, former Gov. Bob Scott, and to force her to sell the family farm. The e-mail messages, recently obtained by The News & Observer, say the witnesses who testified against Phipps at her October trial were also pressured to lie ... http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/politicians/phipps/story/247474.html

"Beyond Thin" Judge Draws Notice for a SC Vacancy
Posted February 7th, 2009 by mal contends
Justice Diane P. Wood is drawing attention as a leading candidate to fill the first vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Wood is famous in some circles (especially in Wisconsin) for her judicial equivalent of voiced disgust shown towards Stephen Biskupic, former U.S. Atty for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, who launched several political prosecutions during his tenure with the Bush administration's Department of Justice, including the repulsive political prosecution of an innocent woman, Georgia Thompson ... http://www.uppitywis.org/tags/georgia-thompson

[valerief]

9. KICK

:kick:

[pleah]

10. K&R About time. n/t

[emlev]

11. Add your voice/Restore Justice At Justice Petition

Restore Justice At Justice

A Velvet Revolution Campaign

Under the Bush administration, the Justice Department was driven by ideology, and prosecutions were often used to settle scores and intimidate the opposition. In fact, the GOP, under the direction of Karl Rove, used the DoJ to target political enemies including Democratic contributors and those who were a threat to GOP electoral gains and big business interests. The Department was used as an arm of the White House to destroy these Democrats. This political profiling resulted in the criminal prosecution of many on the enemies list, including Alabama Governor Don Siegelman and trial lawyer Paul Minor.

Barack Obama and Eric Holder promised to return justice to the Justice Department and free the department from politics. We are now insisting that that promise be fulfilled by righting the wrongs of political profiling and prosecutions under the previous administration. We call on Attorney General Holder to immediately vacate the convictions of Siegelman and Minor, to investigate and identify others who have been politically prosecuted, and to vacate their convictions. Political profiling, like racial profiling, is wrong; when it results in a criminal prosecution, it constitutes prosecutorial misconduct. Our letter to AG Holder, endorsed by organizations representing hundreds of thousands of citizens and signed by many patriotic Americans, makes clear that Mr. Holder must act quickly to restore justice at the Department of Justice.

Sign the petition here

[annabanana]

25. Petition signed.... thread k'd & r'd

Mr. Holder has got a lot of very important work to do.

[emlev]

31. kick

[EFerrari]

12. Oh, baby.

:kick:

[Doctor_J]

13. This is why Rove must be prosecuted, and put to death if convicted

He has deliberately destroyed lives - lots of them - and should be executed for high crimes and misdemeanors

Nice work, lala

[blm]

16. yes, because TREASON is at the core of this - stealing elections has many levels of activities

and Rove's machinations before 2004 were all part of stealing 2002 and 2004, and his actions afterwards about the coverup.

Treason.

Deserves the Death Penalty.

[scentopine]

17. True Justice Would Be Life Term in Gitmo

Rove cut his teeth here in Texas where he trumped up charges and sent people to jail for simply being democrats. If there is one reason to keep gitmo open, its to hold the lot of these treasonous bastards - Bush, Rove, Cheney, et al.

Unfortunately we are "looking ahead" with blinders on, laying the seeds for the next round of disasters. As long as we turn a blind eye to justice there is diminishing value to being an American citizen and the rich and powerful will keep chopping us off at the knees. If there is one thing clear about Obama, he isn't fighting for justice and that is sending the wrong signals to CIA, NSA, AT&T, Exxon, Goldman Sachs, Haliburtin and all the other companies to whom we've outsourced our government "for the people".

[mod mom]

18. The climate in Cuba is too nice, how about some cold damp cell with no windows?

[L0oniX]

28. A permanent date with Sara in an Alaskan igloo.

[AlbertCat]

32. how about some cold damp cell with no windows?

Yeah! Send him to Sarah Palin's house! Make him go to church with her. Make him change Trig's (or whatever stupid name they cursed that unfortunate child with) diapers.

[xchrom]

15. recommend

[ooglymoogly]

19. KR Get em while they are hot....

Evil bastards. Exposing these bastards will begin their shunning as human beings...the beginning of "justice for all, once again.

[L. Coyote]

20. The real CRIME may well be bringing the charges in the first instance, and the second

so double the jail time for those who did this to Minor!!

[gulfcoastliberal]

21. So why hasn't Holder rushed to dismiss like he did with Stevens?

Am I missing something? Can he not do the same thing here?

[JohnWxy]

22. RECOMMENDED. GOPs Political prosecutions MUST BE INVESTIGATED. some links from article:

For background on this case and the allegations of political prosecution, see Raw Story's award-nominated series of articles articles,
the Permanent Republican Majority:

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/The_Permanent_Republican_Majority_1125.html|Part 1 - Political Prisoner. The permanent Republican majority: Part one: How a coterie of Republican heavyweights sent a governor to jail>
Part 2 - Siegelman's Daughter Speaks Out
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/The_Permanent_Republican_Majority_Part_III_1216.html">Part 3 - Karl Rove Running Elections from the White House
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/How_Bush_US_attorney_riddled_with_0401.html">Part 4 - Mississippi Prosecution, Justice Oliver Diaz
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Diaz_placeholder_0408.html">Part 5 - Justice Diaz Speaks
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Breakins_plague_Justice_Department_whistleblowers_0430.html">Part 6 - Break-ins plague targets of political prosecutions}
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Justice_for_Sale_How_Big_Tobacco_0828.html">Part 7 - Justice for Sale[br />

YOU WON'T HEAR ABOUT THIS ON M$M!

[diane in sf]

23. Thank you for all your good work LaLa, let's bring these bastards to justice!

[bleever]

24. K&R!

Do you hear the hounds baying in the distance, Karl?

[XXXMADAM]

26. It's absolutely guaranteed to repeat itself if not prosecuted

It's that simple, not complicated at all.

http://www.defraudingamerica.com/robin_head.html
xxx

[DCKit]

30. Those attorneys who quit or were fired because they wouldn't work for the BFEE...

need to be running the DOJ.