American Politics Journal -- Fighting a Multi-Front War



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Fighting a Multi-Front War
Why Life Suddenly Has Become Much More Difficult for the GOP
by Tamara Baker

Monday, June 12, 2000 -- ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA (AmpolNS) -- Ever wonder why the anti-Clinton/Gore FauxGate volume suddenly got pumped up a bit within the last few weeks, after a brief lull?

You know what I mean: the Gore tenant dust-up, the IRS auditing Jane Doe Number 5, the unaddressed, unsigned "memo", etc., etc., etc.

These little bits of hoo-ha were released by the RNC's Jim Nicholson via his tame reporters, in order to keep the Dubya-was-AWOL-for-a-year story from getting legs, and also to try and conceal the news of Drudge's forcing spineless Miramax to ax Insane Clown Posse, the planned John Connolly exposé of Starr's OIC.

Pity the poor right-wing spin machine. Not only must it keep Dubya's past securely battened down and out of sight, it must also protect Kenny Starr and his elves. Fighting a multi-front war taxes even an entity with the resources of the VRWC. Somewhere, sometime, something has to give.

Sunday, it did -- and in several places at once: in print, on TV and on the Net.

The New York Times, ABC and CNN all featured, quite prominently, stories on the death penalty, and how sloppy and underpaid criminal-justice professionals are sending innocent men and women to death row. George W. Bush's Texas conveyor-belt application of the death penalty got much mention, as did the Illinois decision to halt executions because of concerns with the quality of justice being meted out in that state -- which, ironically enough, has a criminal justice system light-years beyond that of Texas.

The Chicago Tribune went one better: Its front-page header was the first of a two-part series examining just how the death penalty cases are handled in George W. Bush's Texas, and the reportage is damning:

...The Tribune examined trial transcripts, legal briefs, appellate rulings and lawyer disciplinary records, and it interviewed dozens of witnesses, lawyers and judges.
The investigation found that:
With their client's life at stake, defense attorneys in 40 cases presented no evidence whatsoever or only one witness during the trial's sentencing phase.
In at least 29 cases, the prosecution presented damaging testimony from a psychiatrist who, based upon a hypothetical question describing the defendant's past, predicted the defendant would commit future violence. In most of these cases, the psychiatrist offered this opinion without ever examining the defendant. Although this kind of testimony is sometimes used in other states, the American Psychiatric Association has condemned it as unethical and untrustworthy.
While capital cases make the greatest demands on defense attorneys, the lawyers in these cases do not always represent the legal community's best. In 43 cases, or one-third, a defendant was represented at trial or on initial appeal by an attorney who had been or was later disbarred, suspended or otherwise sanctioned. Though most were punished after they handled these cases, their disciplinary records raise questions about their suitability for such a complex job.
In at least 23 cases, the prosecution's evidence at trial or sentencing included a jailhouse informant-a form of testimony so unreliable that some states warn jurors to view it with skepticism. The prevalent use of jailhouse informants in capital cases was one of the central problems Gov. George Ryan cited when he declared the moratorium in Illinois.
In at least 23 cases, the prosecution presented a visual comparison of hairs, a kind of evidence so inexact that it is restricted or barred in some jurisdictions.
In many of these 131 cases, justice has been shaped by witnesses, experts and lawyers of questionable merit.
They include a forensic scientist who was temporarily released from a psychiatric ward to provide incriminating testimony in a capital case; a pathologist who has admitted faking autopsies; a psychiatrist, nicknamed "Dr. Death," who was expelled from the American Psychiatric Association; a judge on the state's highest criminal court who has been reprimanded for lying about his background; and a defense attorney infamous for sleeping during trials.
Yet all 131 of these cases cleared every hurdle designed to prevent flawed cases from proceeding to execution-from the trial court through appeals to the governor.

It doesn't get much better, folks.

And remember, this is only part one of a two-part story.

As my friend the esteemed "Ferguson Foont" has said, George W. Bush has killed upwards of two dozen innocent people. While this is not as many as the final tally of the Hillside Strangler or John Wayne Gacy, it puts him well ahead of the UnaBomber and in the same league as DeSalvo and Bundy in the mass-murderer derby.

This is not something that the VRWC can spin away, folks, no matter how much Section 527 money they throw at it.

And it's only going to get worse for them from here.