Legal Schnauzer: The Siegelman Case - Why Obama Must Get It Right On Justice Issues

[Hissyspit]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Siegelman-Case-Why-Ob-by-Roger-Shuler-090426-576.html

The Siegelman Case: Why Obama Must Get It Right on Justice Issues

by Roger Shuler Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com

The Siegelman Case: Why Obama Must Get It Right on Justice Issues
Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer
Pressure seems to be growing on the Obama administration to support complete investigations and accountability regarding apparent wrongdoing in the George W. Bush Department of Justice (DOJ).

Obama needs to be listening. The long-term success of his presidency might depend on it.

The New York Times on Saturday opined that Attorney General Eric Holder should take a fresh look at the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. Such a review becomes even more imperative, the Times notes, now that Holder has asked that charges be dismissed against former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) because of prosecutorial misconduct in his case. Wrongdoing by prosecutors probably was at least as grave in the Siegelman case, probably more so, the Times notes:

Many aspects of the case require further scrutiny. United States Attorney Leura Canary is the wife of a prominent Republican political operative who was a strong opponent of Mr. Siegelman. Her office prosecuted Mr. Siegelman. Ms. Canary said that she recused herself from the prosecution, but questions have been raised about whether she actually did.

Mr. Siegelman’s supporters have long argued that he was targeted by the Justice Department because he was Alabama’s leading Democratic politician and stood a good chance of once again being elected governor. A Republican lawyer in Alabama, Jill Simpson, has said that she heard Ms. Canary’s husband, William Canary, say that he had discussed the prosecution with Karl Rove, the senior White House political adviser.

Sources say The New York Times is not just writing editorials on the Siegelman case. Times reporters also are checking into the curious relationship between two Alabama newspapers--The Birmingham News and the Mobile Press-Register--and prosecutors in the Siegelman case. And Justice Department investigators, checking into the same issue, have found substantial evidence of improper connections between prosecutors and Alabama journalists regarding the Siegelman case.

Christine Bowman, at BuzzFlash, writes that Holder must build on momentum from the recent release of Bush torture memos to conduct a thorough cleansing at the DOJ. Like the Times, Bowman focuses on the Siegelman case:

One DOJ conservative ideologue who needs to be dumped immediately is Leura Canary...

- snip -

Why is it critical that Obama pay attention to these calls for justice at Justice? Much of the good he is likely to accomplish in his presidency could go down the drain if he doesn't.

Veteran journalist Robert Parry has written that perhaps the biggest mistake of Bill Clinton's presidency was his decision to give the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations free passes on corruption. That caused Americans to view the Reagan and Bush legacies in a much more favorable light than they would have if wrongdoing had been exposed.

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[scarletwoman]

1. I want some REAL change -- like an end to sweeping DC corruption under the rug.

It shouldn't be too much to ask.

sw

[merh]

2. If Obama honestly looks back on the history of this nation

he will see that moving on to heal or pardoning to not divide, like Ford did for Nixon, does not bring about healing. It allows the wounds to fester and the poison to spread.

The democratic leaders have got to stop turning the other cheek - they need to hold all accountable, they need to remember that we are a nation of laws and that no one is above the law.

[JDPriestly]

4. You are so right! We need to have a full accounting, full information

regarding what happened over the past 30 years. There has been an appalling lack of transparency and, as a result, partisan groups have simply created their own narratives about what has happened. In this age of information, facts based on evidence should be made more easily available.

The "9/11 conspiracy theories" are an example of the confusion and division that hiding information can cause. Our government rushed to remove evidence from the 9/11 crime scene and still has not adequately responded to the questions that some knowledgeable people have raised. As a result, people are left to fill in the gaps of information with speculation sometimes based on solid reasoning and sometimes not.

OK, so it's fun for parents to pretend there is a Santa and keep secrets from their kids about how their presents get under the tree. But when it comes to national security, Americans need to be fully informed. The time for state secrets is pretty much past. Over the years, secrecy has mostly just provided a cover for power grabs and corruption.

[merh]

5. Your santa comment is more on point than you may realize.

There are a good many people in the US that don't want to know the truth. They just want to believe in the USA, they have to believe in the USA. It will keep them safe, it has to. It can do no wrong, it just can't.

[madfloridian]

3. Agreed, and my own personal kudos to blm...

She has been saying these things for years, often paying a dear price for it at this forum.

"Veteran journalist Robert Parry has written that perhaps the biggest mistake of Bill Clinton's presidency was his decision to give the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations free passes on corruption. That caused Americans to view the Reagan and Bush legacies in a much more favorable light than they would have if wrongdoing had been exposed."

Reagan and GHWB do still look like saints, when if truth be told they most certainly would not.

[annabanana]

6. The NYT is starting to act like a newspaper again?

They certainly still have the resouces to do the job if they've decided to. I really want them to function properly again...