Legal Commentary

The Justice Department's Double Standard

By TChris

Legal Schnauzer asks a smart question about the Justice Department's prosecution of Don Siegelman: if what Siegelman did (acting in support of a campaign contributor) is illegal, why isn't the Justice Department prosecuting his Republican successor for doing much the same thing?

Now, let's consider the case of current Alabama Governor Bob Riley, a Republican. Riley took a sizable campaign contribution from supporters of a biotechnology center in Huntsville and helped steer millions of state dollars to the project. ... Has Riley gotten in trouble with federal prosecutors for what appears to be a "quid pro quo" very much like the one Siegelman allegedly arranged? Heck, no. ...

(more ...)

[W]hy did the U.S. Justice Department treat the Siegelman deal as a federal crime while ignoring the Riley deal? Why does The Birmingham News trumpet the fruits of Riley's deal on the front page while apparently supporting the prosecution of Siegelman and Scrushy?

It's bad enough that Alabama's largest newspaper has that kind of double standard. But when our Justice Department has that kind of double standard, we aren't much better than the banana republics that thrive at many points on the globe.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 09, 2008 (boomark / email).