* The judges probably hope the Minor defendants will die in prison, so they are never able to get out and tell the truth about what happened in their case;
* The judges know that if the convictions are totally overturned, the Minor defendants will be released from prison and probably will file lawsuits seeking justice in the civil arena for the massive injustices they have suffered in criminal courts. Such lawsuits could lead to all kinds of uncomfortable moments for people like Karl Rove, George W. Bush, and their many Deep South acolytes.
That third factor, we suspect, is the big key. And we suspect that's the reason the Don Siegelman convictions were not totally overturned by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Interestingly, the 11th Circuit, in Siegelman, did just the opposite of what the Fifth Circuit did in Minor: It overturned the fraud convictions but left the bribery convictions in place. Almost sounds like a fix was in across the circuits, doesn't it?
As long as some legitimacy is attached to the Minor and Siegelman convictions, it makes it harder for the defendants to ever seek justice for the unconscionable civil wrongs that have been committed against them.
Meanwhile, our first African-American president seems to think that our citizens cannot be distracted by minor matters regarding justice.
How's that for irony? I wonder what Martin Luther King, who dealt with a few minor matters regarding justice, would think about that. I suspect he would be ashamed--and I bet he would be deeply fearful that much of his work, for which he gave his life, would wind up in vain.
Can you imagine our first black president allowing the spirit of Josef Stalin to flourish in America? Can you imagine our first black president allowing Martin Luther King's legacy to be tarnished by essentially saying, "Matters of justice aren't worthy of our attention at this time"?
Contradictions, indeed.
* The judges know that if the convictions are totally overturned, the Minor defendants will be released from prison and probably will file lawsuits seeking justice in the civil arena for the massive injustices they have suffered in criminal courts. Such lawsuits could lead to all kinds of uncomfortable moments for people like Karl Rove, George W. Bush, and their many Deep South acolytes.
That third factor, we suspect, is the big key. And we suspect that's the reason the Don Siegelman convictions were not totally overturned by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Interestingly, the 11th Circuit, in Siegelman, did just the opposite of what the Fifth Circuit did in Minor: It overturned the fraud convictions but left the bribery convictions in place. Almost sounds like a fix was in across the circuits, doesn't it?
As long as some legitimacy is attached to the Minor and Siegelman convictions, it makes it harder for the defendants to ever seek justice for the unconscionable civil wrongs that have been committed against them.
How's that for irony? I wonder what Martin Luther King, who dealt with a few minor matters regarding justice, would think about that. I suspect he would be ashamed--and I bet he would be deeply fearful that much of his work, for which he gave his life, would wind up in vain.
Can you imagine our first black president allowing the spirit of Josef Stalin to flourish in America? Can you imagine our first black president allowing Martin Luther King's legacy to be tarnished by essentially saying, "Matters of justice aren't worthy of our attention at this time"?
Contradictions, indeed.
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