Our Opinion: A shameful look inside the Gonzales Justice Dept. (Tucson Citizen)

[struggle4progress]

Published: 07.07.2007

~snip~ Testimony indicates that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was cavalier in seeking the death penalty, even when the prosecutor most familiar with the case said that the chance of executing the wrong man was "too high." ~snip~

In late June, Paul Charlton testified before a Senate subcommittee reviewing use of the federal death penalty.

Charlton was fired last year as U.S. attorney for Arizona, allegedly for performance-related issues. It later was revealed that he and eight peers were fired for political disputes with the Bush administration. ~snip~

Gonzales ordered the death penalty be sought over Charlton's repeated objections. Charlton felt that evidence, including that no body was found, didn't support the death penalty. ~snip~

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/opinion/56783.php

[napi21]

1. No doubt Gonzo is doing a lousy job, IF he's doing a job at all, but

it's the US atty. who decides wether to seek the death penalty or not, so if Charlton felt the evidence wasn't strong enough to ashure him of someone's guilt, why did he seek the DP at all? I don't understand.

[struggle4progress]

2. Fired Prosecutor Says Gonzales Pushed Death Penalty (WaPo 28 June)

Figures Show Attorney General Often Overrules U.S. Attorneys' Arguments Against Capital Charges

By Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 28, 2007; Page A07

Paul K. Charlton, one of nine U.S. attorneys fired last year, told members of Congress yesterday that Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales has been overzealous in ordering federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, including in an Arizona murder case in which no body had been recovered.

Justice Department officials had branded Charlton, the former U.S. attorney in Phoenix, disloyal because he opposed the death penalty in that case. But Charlton testified yesterday that Gonzales has been so eager to expand the use of capital punishment that the attorney general has been inattentive to the quality of evidence in some cases -- or the views of the prosecutors most familiar with them. ~snip~

Justice Department data presented at the hearing demonstrated that the administration's death penalty dispute with Charlton was not unique. The Bush administration has so far overruled prosecutors' recommendations against its use more frequently than the Clinton administration did. The pace of overrulings picked up under Gonzales's predecessor, Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, and spiked in 2006, when the number of times Gonzales ordered prosecutors to seek the death penalty against their advice jumped to 21, from three in 2005. ~snip~

.... Charlton .... believed .... the body was .. buried in a landfill and .. asked Justice Department officials to pay .. for its exhumation. The department refused ... And without such evidence, he testified, the risk of putting the wrong person to death was too high .... He instead received a letter .... from Gonzales, simply directing him to seek the death penalty. ~snip~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/27/AR2007062702310.html?hpid=moreheadlines

[napi21]

3. I see. Old Gonzo is quite the micro manager isn't he?

I suspect that he's simply doing what his BOSS told him he wants. I lived in Tx. while Shrub was Gov. He was QUITE PROUD of having the highest # of executions of any State, and each year of his reign the # went up!

[ellenfl]

4. how very christian of dubya and fredo.

why is the religious right the most outspoken in favor of the death penalty? dubya seems to delight in having people put to death. how can they call themselves pro-life?

ellen fl

[napi21]

5. Do you want an honest answer, or THEIR answer?

The honest answer is they are hypocrits.

THEIR answer is usually two fold. 1. The bible says "an eye for an eye"! 2. They're FOR TDP because they are though on crime, and against abortion because a baby cannot commit a crime!