Georgia Thompson's conviction reversed

[undeterred]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has reversed the convictions of Georgia Thompson and ordered her released from prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Milwaukee.

Thompson, a former state (of WI) purchasing employee, was convicted of steering a travel contract to a company whose executives had given the campaign of Gov. Jim Doyle large contributions. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago heard the case on Thursday and issued a one-page order, overturning the convictions and ordering Thompson released from the federal prison in Illinois where she is being held.

Thompson will remain free on a signature bond until the court of appeals issues a written explanation of its decision, which will be issued "in due course," the order said. Decisions typically take weeks, if not months, to be released.

U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic said he would wait for that written decision to determine the next step, if there is one. The government has the option to appeal for a rehearing before the entire Appeals Court. Biskupic said depending on the wording, the decision could impact other similar cases where the government does not prove the defendant personally benefited from the alleged crimes, as was the case in the Thompson case.

"I am interested to see how this decision is written and how it affects other public corruption cases," Biskupic said. Biskupic also congratulated Thompson's attorney, Stephen Hurley.

http://www.jsonline.com/watch/?watch=1&date=4/5/2007&id=21661

On CBS news she was described as "acquitted" and Doyle finally commented on it, saying that the media were partially to blame for sensationalizing the case. Thompson can have her job with the Department of Administration back with the State of Wisconsin if she wants it- but meanwhile she has spent 4 months in a Federal prison, and lost her home and life savings to legal fees. I never understood what this case was about, but it did have the effect of making Doyle's administration look bad.

[dragonlady]

1. The reason for this case

was, as you say, to make Doyle look bad. Since the election is over and Doyle won, there's no reason to fight the appeal anymore, so Biskupic can gracefully accept the appellate decision and move on to something else.

I never understood either how getting a lower price for the taxpayers could be a federal crime. :shrug:

[undeterred]

5. I was at the Camp Wellstone campaign camp last February

and this story was on the front page the whole weekend- so one of the presenters used it as an example: If its in the news for 3 days it means trouble for your candidate.

[yourout]

2. I take it Biskupic is a Bushbot.

[MessiahRp]

3. Yep

Brother of Vince Biskupic and friend of Joe Paulus. Appointed by Bush himself.

http://www.truthinjustice.org/paulus23.htm

Rp

[dragonlady]

4. He's one of the US Attorneys who didn't get fired

so you can draw your own conclusions about his level of bushbotness. (His brother Vince was district attorney in Appleton and ran for attorney general in 2002 against Peg.)

[undeterred]

6. Wisc Journal article, Doyle statement

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=128161

http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/_070405Doyle_Thompson_Statement.pdf

After this, I can't imagine why anyone would take a job handling purchasing for the State of Wisconsin, Dept. of Administration. You're working for a HUGE political target (whether its Doyle or someone else), and if you're accused of wrongdoing, nobody can protect you.

[dragonlady]

7. Their method is attack, attack, attack all the time

with no thought for the long-range consequences of their actions (and no consideration for public policy and good government for the people).

[undeterred]

8. I could just feel the Republican hatred for Doyle

when I was out talking to people last summer- like he were the sleaziest guy on earth. This was the only thing they could point to and nobody really understood what happened. Of course most of them hate the stem cell research he promotes too. I never knew what to think about the scandal, but even if it were true he was still a million times better than Mark Green.

I think you have to actually work inside a particular State administration to know how likely this was to have actually happened. In this case, both Thompson and Doyle insisted they never met each other. Although instructions still could have travelled, not a single person ever came forward to say that they did. Yet this woman spent four months in prison anyway. It makes me sick.

[dembotoz]

9. there should be some way we can use this

picketing the repub convention in wisconsin, demanding restitution due to their hatchet job.
Maybe a series of bake sales to help her recover.
Maybe something with the other thompson...

the destruction of other people for political purposes by the repugs should be exposed.

[dragonlady]

10. This decision is making state employees breathe easier

State and union officials said the decision should help reverse a trend toward fewer state employees wishing to sit on the purchasing committees that decide everything from what pencils to the state should buy to what travel firm to use.

Henderson said Thompson's conviction had made many state employees question whether they wanted to participate in purchasing committees. DOA alone runs some 150 such committees every year, and together they make decisions over hundreds of millions of dollars in purchases.

"This has certainly had a chilling effect on people's willingness to sit on these committees," said Henderson, who offered only anecdotal evidence of the trend. Supervisors "feel like they're making more requests than they used to have make."

At oral arguments before the appeals court Thursday, Hurley said he would caution state employees not to sit on such committees because of concerns that they might be wrongly accused of fraud or impropriety.

"Now I think I could tell them differently," Hurley said.

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=128385&ntpid=3

[dragonlady]

11. Sleazy Republican maneuver now being noticed in the New York Times

Excerpt from the New York Times editorial:

"The prosecution was a boon to Mr. Doyle’s opponent. Republicans ran a barrage of attack ads that purported to tie Ms. Thompson’s “corruption” to Mr. Doyle. Ms. Thompson was sentenced shortly before the election, which Governor Doyle won."

And from Paul Krugman (I love him!):

"...(I)n Wisconsin, ... the Bush-appointed U.S. attorney prosecuted the state’s purchasing supervisor over charges that a court recently dismissed after just 26 minutes of oral testimony, with one judge calling the evidence “beyond thin.” But by then the accusations had done their job: the unjustly accused official had served almost four months in prison, and the case figured prominently in attack ads alleging corruption in the Democratic governor’s administration."

Keep piling it on!

(quotes taken from http://folkbum.blogspot.com/)

Edit: fuller version of Times editorial here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x605398

[undeterred]

12. Well, I hope it makes people start to distrust Republicans

in general. They say people don't like negative campaigning, but it sure has been effective during the last few election cycles in Wisconsin.

I have to say that by ignoring this and focusing on his good record, Governor Doyle did handle it as best he could, even though it cast a long shadow of doubt over him. Thank goodness that he and Barbara Lawton were re-elected is all I can say- it is still horrible for Georgia Thompson, but it would have been a million times worse if we lost Doyle-Lawton in Wisconsin because of this baloney.

[dragonlady]

13. No do-overs for elections tainted by fraudulent campaigning

They count on that. Same as the 2000 selection: too bad, mistakes may have been made, but he's in office now, what are you going to do about it? :banghead: