Comments on: Thoughts on Prosecutorial Abuse

By: Ron Good

Ron Good — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:05:42 +0000

Apology happily accepted, GU–and the link goes to your email anyways

By: GU

GU — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:32:23 +0000

The last comment at 4:31 was posted by me, GU. I don’t know why it came up as Ron Good. Apologies to Ron Good.

By: Ron Good

Ron Good — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:31:02 +0000

Yeah, you’re right, occasionally they break from the race/gender/class analysis and ignore one (or rarely two) of the criteria. As long as the defendant is not “sympathetic” it is OK to run roughshod on justice.

By: Ron Good

Ron Good — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:10:31 +0000

Well, it’s not just rich white males. Those guys have their guns set on rich white women, too: Leona Helmsley and Martha Stewart jump to mind. Show trials, both of ‘em.

By: GU

GU — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:57:53 +0000

The cases of the Enron prosecution team, or Nifong and the Duke LAX fiasco, are good tests of who is really serious about stamping out prosecutorial misconduct and who really just cares about their own particular narrow interest group. What I mean is, many people who are concerned that poor and/or black people get railroaded by prosecutors fairly often, don't care that prosecutors are abusing power to prosecute people they don't like, namely successful white males.

I hate putting things in such racialized terms, but that is the reality of the world we live in. Successful white males being taken down by the government plays into the gender/race/class worldview in which successful white men are only successful because they are evil and oppress women and minorities. We can see who really dislikes prosecutorial misconduct (for non-bigoted reasons) by presenting these types of cases where the defendants are "less sympathetic".

By: terrence

terrence — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:26:25 +0000

I am indifferent as to whether or not prostitution should be legalized.

However, the problem I, and many others, have with the ugly hypocrite Spitzer, is that he ENFORCED prostitution laws against others, including prostitutes. Apparently, most New Yorkers are disgusted with his hypocritical behavior.

It seems clear now that Spitzer indulged in this ugly hypocritical behavior for six to 10 years, while he was actually persecuting prostitute related cases while frequenting prostitutes. And, he may have spent around $80,000 on his prostitutes. And he did this in very stupid ways; his name became known in a money laundering investigation. Spitzerâ€™s using prostitutes is almost a side issue.

By: Ron Good

Ron Good — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:12:06 +0000

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a similar result play out in the Conrad Black trial.

That, also, was a grandstanding political "show trial".

Just sayin'...

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:06:18 +0000

Let me just say that as a non-Libertarian in most respects, I agree with you when you say prostitution shouldn’t be a crime. There’s obviously a need for this service, and the profession isn’t necessarily degrading to women. What it is, unfortunately, due to its illegal status, is dangerous for the women who practice it. If the industry became legal, I think there’d be far less of the “back alley” type encounters in which women are at risk of danger, and far more above-board type of encounters in which cleanliness and safety would be far better. I’m thinking of the prostitution industry in Nevada, which is legal and regulated. Sex workers there are required to be checked regularly for STDs – a positive for both them and their clients.