Chicago cop Richard Fiorito is under investigation by state officials for allegedly filing false DUI charges against drivers -- many of whom are gay and lesbian. Apparently, the bogus arrests were part of a scheme Fiorito devised to earn overtime income. Fiorito arrested innocent drivers for DUI and then earned overtime income when he appeared in court to testify against them.
Fiorito, however, is not the only Chicago cop who has falsely arrested drivers for DUI. Two other police officers have faced similar allegations, and Cook County prosecutors have already dropped 50 DUI cases and charged John Haleas, the arresting officer, with perjury. Although Fiorito faces numerous lawsuits for his behavior, prosecutors have not filed a criminal complaint against him.
Ironically, while Chicago cops are falsely arresting people, Anita Alvarez, the Cook County District Attorney, has pursued a campaign of harassment against Northwestern University's Medill Innocence Project. Dissenting Justice has covered this issue extensively. See Shameful and Pathetic Tactics by Illinois Prosecutors: Attacking "Innocent" Students; Cook County Prosecutors Launch Full Smear Campaign Against Innocence Project; and Illinois Prosecutors, Take Notice: Innocent Man Released After 12 Years in Prison.
The Medill project investigates claims of innocence made by Illinois inmates. The diligence of Medill students has secured the release of eleven inmates during the project's ten-year history.
Alvarez, however, believes that students in the project are dishonest and could have received higher grades by convincing witnesses to support the inmates' claims of innocence. With Chicago cops arresting innocent drivers, Alvarez clearly has flawed priorities.
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Kamis, 12 November 2009
Selasa, 10 November 2009
Cook County Prosecutors Launch Full Smear Campaign Against Innocence Project
Recently, major news outlets reported that Anita Alvarez, the District Attorney for Cook County, Illinois, had subpoenaed the grades, grading standards, and electronic communications between students and professors in the Medill Innocence Project. Northwestern University runs the Medill project, which, during its ten-year history, has helped to secure the release of eleven innocent inmates.
Medill journalism students in the project research claims of innocence by incarcerated individuals. If the students believe the claims have merit, they give the information to lawyers who then decide whether to pursue legal relief. Medill students have gathered evidence that seems to exonerate Anthony McKinney, who is serving a life sentence for the 1978 murder of a security guard. Another individual, Tony Drakes, confessed to the murder during a videotaped interview with students.
The prosecutors' subpoena has sparked almost universal condemnation. Many commentators view it as a blatant attempt to harass the students and their professors and to chill advocacy on behalf of wrongly convicted individuals.
The prosecutors, however, will likely get the documents they seek -- unless a judge determines that the students are "journalists" under Illinois law. If the judge treats the students as journalists, then Illinois law would shield their communications from disclosure.
Full Smear Campaign
The merits of the subpoena depend solely upon the status of the students under the Illinois journalistic shield statute. Nevertheless, Alvarez has apparently decided to launch a full smear campaign against the Medill project.
First, Alvarez defended the subpoena by claiming that she wanted to know whether students received higher grades if they concluded that inmates were innocent. Now, Alvarez has made the salacious claim that Medill students paid two witnesses for their testimony.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Cook County prosecutors argued in court yesterday that Drakes received $40 dollars from a cab driver hired by the Medill project and that he used the money to purchase "crack cocaine." Prosecutors also argued that students paid Michael Lane, a friend of Drakes and possible accessory to the murder, between $50 and $100 dollars and "took him out for cocktails and dinner and flirted with him." Prosecutors, however, provided no other details regarding the payment to Lane. These assertions reflect absolute hypocrisy and desperation by the prosecutors.
Prosecutors "pay" witnesses all the time. In exchange for testimony from witnesses, prosecutors pursue lesser charges, or they give them full or partial immunity. They also drop pending charges in other cases. Prosecutors also threaten harsher penalties if witnesses refuse to cooperate. Indeed, it is probably likely that prosecutors threatened Drakes, who confessed to a murder, with severe penalties before he "recanted." In order to question the students' credibility, Alvarez must also question the credibility of prosecutors across the nation.
Furthermore, the prosecution's assertions seem highly unlikely. Indeed, the Medill project has a simple explanation for the payment to Drakes, which suggests that prosecutors made the allegation purely for shock value, rather than substance. David Protess, the professor who runs the Medill project, says students paid a cab driver to transport Drakes and that he retains the receipt.
Protess also questions the sincerity of Cook County prosecutors who seem to believe that Drakes would confess to murder for $40. But these prosecutors are so desperate to conceal the truth that they apparently do not care about their own reputations or the reputations of the Medill students who pursue justice for wrongfully convicted individuals.
Medill journalism students in the project research claims of innocence by incarcerated individuals. If the students believe the claims have merit, they give the information to lawyers who then decide whether to pursue legal relief. Medill students have gathered evidence that seems to exonerate Anthony McKinney, who is serving a life sentence for the 1978 murder of a security guard. Another individual, Tony Drakes, confessed to the murder during a videotaped interview with students.
The prosecutors' subpoena has sparked almost universal condemnation. Many commentators view it as a blatant attempt to harass the students and their professors and to chill advocacy on behalf of wrongly convicted individuals.
The prosecutors, however, will likely get the documents they seek -- unless a judge determines that the students are "journalists" under Illinois law. If the judge treats the students as journalists, then Illinois law would shield their communications from disclosure.
Full Smear Campaign
The merits of the subpoena depend solely upon the status of the students under the Illinois journalistic shield statute. Nevertheless, Alvarez has apparently decided to launch a full smear campaign against the Medill project.
First, Alvarez defended the subpoena by claiming that she wanted to know whether students received higher grades if they concluded that inmates were innocent. Now, Alvarez has made the salacious claim that Medill students paid two witnesses for their testimony.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Cook County prosecutors argued in court yesterday that Drakes received $40 dollars from a cab driver hired by the Medill project and that he used the money to purchase "crack cocaine." Prosecutors also argued that students paid Michael Lane, a friend of Drakes and possible accessory to the murder, between $50 and $100 dollars and "took him out for cocktails and dinner and flirted with him." Prosecutors, however, provided no other details regarding the payment to Lane. These assertions reflect absolute hypocrisy and desperation by the prosecutors.
Prosecutors "pay" witnesses all the time. In exchange for testimony from witnesses, prosecutors pursue lesser charges, or they give them full or partial immunity. They also drop pending charges in other cases. Prosecutors also threaten harsher penalties if witnesses refuse to cooperate. Indeed, it is probably likely that prosecutors threatened Drakes, who confessed to a murder, with severe penalties before he "recanted." In order to question the students' credibility, Alvarez must also question the credibility of prosecutors across the nation.
Furthermore, the prosecution's assertions seem highly unlikely. Indeed, the Medill project has a simple explanation for the payment to Drakes, which suggests that prosecutors made the allegation purely for shock value, rather than substance. David Protess, the professor who runs the Medill project, says students paid a cab driver to transport Drakes and that he retains the receipt.
Protess also questions the sincerity of Cook County prosecutors who seem to believe that Drakes would confess to murder for $40. But these prosecutors are so desperate to conceal the truth that they apparently do not care about their own reputations or the reputations of the Medill students who pursue justice for wrongfully convicted individuals.
Rabu, 28 Oktober 2009
Illinois Prosecutors, Take Notice: Innocent Man Released After 12 Years in Prison
Anita Alvarez, the District Attorney for Cook County Illinois, has served the Medill Innocence Project at Northwestern University with a controversial subpoena. The subpoena seeks the "grades, grading criteria, class syllabus, expense reports and e-mail messages of the journalism students themselves."
Commentators have almost uniformly criticized the subpoena, and many journalism and legal experts view it as an attempt to harass and chill the work of the students and their professors. The Medill project has secured the release of 11 wrongfully convicted Illinois inmates during its 10-year history. Alvarez (to quote the late-Justice Brennan) is apparently afraid of "too much justice."
A judge will ultimately determine whether the Medill project must submit to Alvarez's heavy handed tactics. Meanwhile, innocent persons undoubtedly languish in Illinois prisons.
CBS News, however, reports that one wrongfully convicted Illinois man will soon get the opportunity to try and piece his life together again. 41-year-old Dean Cade was recently released from prison after serving 12 years for a rape he did not commit. DNA evidence proved his innocence. The work of the Innocence Project at Benjamin Cardozo Law School (part of Yeshiva University) in New York City secured his release.
Alvarez's subpoena shows a contempt for justice. Although Alvarez is cynical about the work of students and professors who run innocence programs, their efforts serve a vital function in the administration of justice. Legal professionals should encourage, rather than impede, the work of innocence projects.
Commentators have almost uniformly criticized the subpoena, and many journalism and legal experts view it as an attempt to harass and chill the work of the students and their professors. The Medill project has secured the release of 11 wrongfully convicted Illinois inmates during its 10-year history. Alvarez (to quote the late-Justice Brennan) is apparently afraid of "too much justice."
A judge will ultimately determine whether the Medill project must submit to Alvarez's heavy handed tactics. Meanwhile, innocent persons undoubtedly languish in Illinois prisons.
CBS News, however, reports that one wrongfully convicted Illinois man will soon get the opportunity to try and piece his life together again. 41-year-old Dean Cade was recently released from prison after serving 12 years for a rape he did not commit. DNA evidence proved his innocence. The work of the Innocence Project at Benjamin Cardozo Law School (part of Yeshiva University) in New York City secured his release.
Alvarez's subpoena shows a contempt for justice. Although Alvarez is cynical about the work of students and professors who run innocence programs, their efforts serve a vital function in the administration of justice. Legal professionals should encourage, rather than impede, the work of innocence projects.
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