MARCH 30 20091. Five Steps to Fix the U.S. Department of Justice
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1. Five Steps to Fix the U.S. Department of
Justice
by Scott Horton of Harper's No Comment
....Instigate a thorough review of political prosecutions, overturn
prosecutions that were abusive, and take appropriate disciplinary
actions with respect to those who instigated them. Following the path
of the lowliest authoritarian dictatorships, the Bush Administration
used the Justice Department to bring criminal prosecutions against
political adversaries for partisan political purposes. That’s no longer
debatable. It’s an established fact. Yet the Justice Department has yet
to lift a finger to correct these abuses. Victims of the worst of these
prosecutions languish in prison, and the prosecutors who disgraced
their offices remain on the job—indeed, this weekend I read that one
was just promoted in an act of calculated “burrowing.” When Thomas
Jefferson came to office following the elections of 1800 he was forced
to deal with a situation almost exactly like the one that Holder now
faces. He called the two-year terror-spree of political prosecutions by
the Federalists the “Reign of Witches.” Jefferson and his attorney
general quickly reviewed the abusive prosecutions, terminated cases,
and issued pardons to the substantial number of people who had
been wrongfully convicted in our still highly imperfect criminal justice
system. Eric Holder would do well to study the precedent Jefferson
furnished. He needs to take this legacy of abuse of the powers of the
Justice Department and confront it directly.
<link to source>
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