Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Everybody Deserves a Fair Trial

And it seems that former Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska didn't get one: because of prosecutorial misconduct, all charges against him are being dropped and the Justice Department won't seek a new trial. The prosecution seems to have withheld important information from the defense.

He would have been re-elected if it hadn't been for the misconduct and his conviction; he lost by fewer than 4,000 votes. I'm not a fan of his, but I am definitely a fan of fair trials, and I'm glad to see this conviction thrown out.

3 comments:

Lisa Hirsch said...

That had crossed my mind. The mantra is "Bush Justice did it, Obama Justice undid it."

Anonymous said...

Yes. If you commit yourself to fairness sometimes you gotta grit your teeth and be fair to Ted Stevens.

I liked the Op-Ed in today's NY Times, by a former Attorney General of New Jersey, on prosecutorial misconduct and the culture that encourages it. If you're not a subscriber, I could send it you via email.

Lisa Hirsch said...

I even get the dead-tree Times, and will be sure to check out the op-ed.