NYT op-ed: A Woman Wrongly Convicted and a U.S. Attorney Who Kept His Job

[DeepModem Mom]

A Woman Wrongly Convicted and a U.S. Attorney Who Kept His Job
By ADAM COHEN
Published: April 16, 2007
Madison, Wis.

Opponents of Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin spent $4 million on ads last year trying to link the Democratic incumbent to a state employee who was sent to jail on corruption charges. The effort failed, and Mr. Doyle was re-elected — and now the state employee has been found to have been wrongly convicted. The entire affair is raising serious questions about why a United States attorney put an innocent woman in jail.

The conviction of Georgia Thompson has become part of the furor over the firing of eight United States attorneys in what seems like a political purge. While the main focus of that scandal is on why the attorneys were fired, the Thompson case raises questions about why other prosecutors kept their jobs.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which heard Ms. Thompson’s case this month, did not discuss whether her prosecution was political — but it did make clear that it was wrong. And in an extraordinary move, it ordered her released immediately, without waiting to write a decision. “Your evidence is beyond thin,” Judge Diane Wood told the prosecutor. “I’m not sure what your actual theory in this case is.”

Members of Congress should ask whether it was by coincidence or design that Steven Biskupic, the United States attorney in Milwaukee, turned a flimsy case into a campaign issue that nearly helped Republicans win a pivotal governor’s race....

***

Most of the eight dismissed prosecutors came from swing states, and Democrats suspect they may have been purged to make room for prosecutors who would help Republicans win close elections. If so, it might also mean that United States attorneys in all swing states were under unusual pressure.

Wisconsin may be the closest swing state of all. President Bush lost it in 2004 by about 12,000 votes, and in 2000, by about half that. According to some Wisconsin politicians, Karl Rove said that their state was his highest priority among governor’s races in 2006, because he believed a Republican governor could help the party win Wisconsin in the 2008 presidential election....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/opinion/16mon4.html?hp

[Richard Steele]

1. Saith the Judge, “I’m not sure what your actual theory in this case is.”

I'll bet any average DUer could figure it out.

[Missy Vixen]

2. Mr. Biskupic should be charged with malpractice at the least

I think we're going to hear a lot more about why the 85 remaining kept their jobs in the next several months.

In the meantime, we live in one of those "swing states" mentioned in the article, and John McKay has not hesitated to speak out about what happened with him at the hands of the Bushies.

Julie

[tblue37]

3. Why does all evidence of Republican corruption have to be

framed specifically as a complaint by Democrats?

Most of the eight dismissed prosecutors came from swing states, and Democrats suspect they may have been purged to make room for prosecutors who would help Republicans win close elections. If so, it might also mean that United States attorneys in all swing states were under unusual pressure.

Just because the Dems are the only ones willing to point out the corruption doesn't mean that it isn't taking place. Corruption should not be framed as a partisan issue.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Good point. I wish we could get back to acknowledgment...

that there aren't two sides to everything. Sometimes there's just right and wrong.

[UpInArms]

5. here's background:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=387485

Steven M. Biskupic, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, said the investigation is not over.

The probe has colored the hotly contested gubernatorial race in which Doyle is trying to be the first Democrat in 30 years to be elected to a second term.

After the indictment was handed down, Doyle's opponents quickly accused him of ethical lapses. Today, the state Ethics Board is expected to announce whether a top Department of Transportation official acted improperly by inviting contractors to a September 2005 fund-raiser for Doyle.

Because of the political implications, the Adelman Travel contract is being investigated jointly by the offices of the U.S. attorney, the state attorney general and the Dane County district attorney.

Biskupic signed the indictment against Thompson. He has recused himself from the portion of the inquiry that concerns Adelman and its employees because Craig Adelman is the brother of U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, who presides over cases in the Eastern District. That portion of the case is now in the hands of Stephen Sinnott, U.S. attorney for the state's Western District.

[Supersedeas]

6. thanks for the link, Up