I've heard back channel that Gov. Siegelman is having a rough February.

[EFerrari]

If you could find it in your heart to write to him, that would be so great.

Don Siegelman
24775-001
FPC P O Box 5010
Oakdale La 71463

His birthday is on the 24rth.

Please let's not forget this BushCo political prisoner.

[EFerrari]

1. House Democrats follow up on Siegelman case

House Democrats follow up on Siegelman case
Thursday, February 07, 2008
MARY ORNDORFF
News Washington correspondent

WASHINGTON - The criminal prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman will be a topic today when U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey testifies before a congressional committee, according to the Democratic chairman of the panel.

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., asked Mukasey to be prepared to discuss the Siegelman case during the House Judiciary Committee's oversight hearing of the Justice Department, according to a letter from Conyers to Mukasey released by the committee.

Conyers' panel has been among the most aggressive in confronting the Bush administration on issues such as torture, selective prosecution and violations of voting rights. He said committee members will cover those areas plus the politicization of the Justice Department, waterboarding and the agency's investigation into the destruction of CIA videotapes of the interrogations of terrorism suspects.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1202375789193640.xml&coll=2

[jasmine621]

34. I wish Maxine would get really involved in this. What do the candidates

say about this.

[EFerrari]

36. I haven't heard either of them say anything. n/t

[Pacifist Patriot]

66. I have sent inquiries to the campaigns. No response yet.

[Octafish]

52. Go, John, Go! We've ALL got to support CONYERS and the JC...

...If We the People demand it from every single freaking Congressmanwoman, the leadership will notice. They certainly will listen if we tell them that we will remember them in the fall and how they weren't there in the battle to restore Justice to the United States.

Gov. Siegelman is a real hero. He has been framed by the BFEE and Corporate McPravda doesn't give a hoot.

[nashville_brook]

2. k and r for visibility...

[EFerrari]

3. Thank you.

:hi:

[displacedtexan]

4. Are we able to send gifts?

Or a donation to his legal defense fund?

Got any contact info for donations?

Thanks for this post, BTW!

You rock!

[EFerrari]

7. Link to his website:

http://donsiegelman.org/

Thank you so much. :hi:

[hisownpetard]

13. Done.

[EFerrari]

14. Thank you. What Don has been put through, what he continues

to endure is a travesty.

Please, let's keep supporting him and challenging this subversion of our justice system.

[hisownpetard]

29. It's the Bush gulag. He should walk out of that cell so we can cram Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, Miers,

Rumsfeld, Libby, et al in there, all shacked together at the ankles.

Put the real criminals in jail and let the political prisoners out.

[The Straight Story]

20. bokmarked

thanks!

[EFerrari]

21. Thank you.

:)

[marmar]

5. K&R for an end to the reign of this organized crime syndicate known as the Republican Party....

:mad:

[EFerrari]

26. My mom calls them the "legal mafia".

:grr:

[Hissyspit]

6. recommended n/t

[immoderate]

8. K&R

--IMM

[road2000]

9. Recommended n/t

[hlthe2b]

10. thank you.. I will

How free are we to talk about the case, since I'm sure his mail is "reviewed"?

[EFerrari]

11. I love DU so much. You step up no matter what.

You all have the best bullshit detector I've ever seen. :loveya:


Here's more of Gov. Siegelman's story. And you have to know, he's not the only one that was targeted in that area.

Commentary
The gulag comes to America: The Don Siegelman case
By Ernest Partridge
Online Journal Guest Writer


Feb 1, 2008, 01:00

Larisa Alexandrovna, one of the few journalists to investigate this case in depth, writes: "For most Americans, the very concept of political prisoners is remote and exotic, a practice that is associated with third-world dictatorships but is foreign to the American tradition. The idea that a prominent politician former state governor – could be tried on charges that many observers consider to be trumped-up, convicted in a trial that involved numerous questionable procedures, and then hauled off to prison in shackles immediately upon sentencing would be almost unbelievable."

Less "unbelievable," perhaps, if we reflect upon a dominant Republican mind-set: politics as warfare, the Democrats are "evil" and "the enemy," and not "the loyal opposition." "You are either with us or with the terrorists," said George Bush -- no compromise, no alternatives, and no middle ground. Thus the goal of the GOP warrior is not merely to defeat the Democrats; the goal is to destroy them.

This was the objective of those who brought charges against Don Siegelman, in a case that stinks from top to bottom of political vendetta and manipulation. It’s a rather complicated story, which I cannot recount in detail here. Those details may be found in the Raw Story (Alexandrovna et al) series and the DemocracyNow Scott Horton interview, listed and linked below. However, these are the essential elements.

The bribery charge rose out of Siegelman’s appointment of Richard Scrushy to the Alabama hospital regulatory board, a non-paying position that Scrusky had held under two previous governors. The appointment followed Scrushy’s donation of a half million dollars to a Siegelman foundation and gained Siegelman no financial advantage whatsoever. Of course, political favors to donors is routine in both state and federal governments, as numerous ambassadorial appointments will testify. Moreover, clearly illegal campaign contributions were received by Alabama Republican Senator Jeff Sessions and Federal Judge William Pryor, who have not been investigated much less prosecuted.

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/printer_2905.shtml

[mod mom]

12. Covered by so many sources & yet he remains imprisoned. Here's the NYT:

The Strange Case of an Imprisoned Alabama Governor

By ADAM COHEN
Published: September 10, 2007
Alberto Gonzales is out as attorney general, but there is still a lot of questionable Justice Department activity for Congress to sort through. The imprisonment of Don Siegelman, a former Democratic governor of Alabama, should be at the top of the list. Jill Simpson, an Alabama lawyer and Republican operative, is heading to Washington this week to tell Congressional investigators that she heard prominent Republicans plotting to use the United States attorneys’ offices to remove Mr. Siegelman as a political threat. The case should be the focus of a probing Congressional hearing this fall.

Mr. Siegelman was a major frustration to Alabama Republicans. The state is bright red, but Mr. Siegelman managed to win the governorship in 1998 with 57 percent of the vote. He was defeated for re-election in 2002 under suspicious circumstances. In the initial returns, Mr. Siegelman appeared to have won by a razor-thin margin. But a late-night change in the tallies in Republican Baldwin County gave the current governor, Bob Riley, a victory of a little more than 3,000 votes out of 1.3 million cast.

Mr. Siegelman has charged that the votes were intentionally shifted by a Republican operative. James Gundlach, an Auburn University professor, did a statistical analysis of the returns and found that the final numbers were clearly the result of intentional manipulation. Mr. Siegelman wanted to take back the governorship in 2006, but his indictment made it impossible.

If Ms. Simpson is telling the truth, she provides important support for Mr. Siegelman’s claim that his prosecution was political. In a sworn affidavit, she says she was on a phone call in November 2002 with Governor Riley’s son, Rob Riley, and Bill Canary, a Republican political operative whose wife, Leura Canary, is the United States attorney for Montgomery. According to Ms. Simpson, they were discussing the political threat Mr. Siegelman posed, and Mr. Canary said his “girls” — his wife and Alice Martin, the United States Attorney in Birmingham — would take care of Mr. Siegelman. Ms. Simpson said Mr. Canary also said the case had been discussed with Karl Rove.

-snip

The Bush administration insists that the United States attorney scandal is a non-scandal. But the Siegelman and Thompson cases are a reminder that when the power of the state to imprison people is put in the wrong hands, lives can be ruined and democracy can be threatened. Since the Justice Department refuses to appoint an independent prosecutor to examine whether these and other cases were politicized, Congress must provide the scrutiny.


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/opinion/10mon4.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

[mod mom]

15. Here's a great timeline from Larisa @ Rawstory:

Timeline: The prosecution of Don Siegelman
Muriel Kane and Larisa Alexandrovna
Published: Monday November 26, 2007




This timeline adjoins a longer article, "The permanent Republican majority:
How a coterie of Republican heavyweights sent a Democratic governor to jail." Click here to read the article.



The Rove-Canary-Pryor Connection

Karl Rove became involved in Alabama politics in 1994, when he joined with veteran GOP operative Bill Canary to help elect pro-corporate Republican judges to the Alabama state supreme court.

A further ally of Rove's and Canary's was Alabama Attorney General William Pryor. Both Rove in Texas and Pryor in Alabama tried to discourage their respective states from actively pursuing the 1996-97 state lawsuits against the tobacco industry, which formed an important aspect of their pro-corporate agenda. However, Alabama's Democratic Lieutanant Governor Don Siegelman was a strong supporter of the tobacco lawsuits.

In November 1998, Siegelman was elected Alabama governor, defeating the Republican incumbent, at the same time that Pryor was re-elected attorney general. Just a few weeks after Siegelman took office, Pryor began an investigation of his administration. It was this investigation that would lead many years later to Siegelman's conviction and imprisonment.

1994 Karl Rove is hired by the Business Council of Alabama to work with veteran GOP operative Bill Canary on winning races for the state supreme court. Rove brings with him from Texas the strategy of successfully demonizing Democratic judges by painting them as pawns of "wealthy personal-injury trial lawyers." Atlantic
1996-97 A series of states brings lawsuits against the tobacco companies, with the support of the National Association of Attorneys General. In Texas, Karl Rove, by then the top political consultant to Governor George W. Bush, strategizes with the pro-smoking forces.

In Alabama , Republican Governor Fob James and Attorney General William Pryor resist joining in the lawsuits. Democratic Lieutenant Governor Don Siegelman accuses Pryor of being too close to the tobacco industry and privately urges two universities to sue the tobacco companies on their own. SourceWatch
Texans for Public Justice (pdf)
Press-Register
November 1998 Democrat Don Siegelman is elected Alabama governor, defeating incumbent Fob James. Among his campaign issues is a state lottery to fund public education.

At the same time, William Pryor is relected attorney general, in a campaign managed by Karl Rove and Bill Canary. Locust Fork Journal
LegalSchnauzer

-snip

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/timeline_don_siegelman_1126.htm

[mod mom]

37. kick for exposure

[EFerrari]

16. from our lala:

60 Minutes Caves to Pressure from White House on Siegelman Story...

Well folks, seems that 60 Minutes is postponing (read "killing") its Siegelman story. The excuse I am told for this lapse in ethics is that the network needs more time to vet the whistle-blower, Dana Jill Simpson. You see, the reason the network suddenly needs more time to vet Simpson is that the White House has launched a direct campaign inside CBS to discredit her and just to make sure the dirt sticks, they have called in some favors too. I am told that Senator Jeff Sessions has been instructed to help the White House discredit Simpson as part of his "Senatorial" duties. Nice system of government we have here, eh?

So, two things are going to happen now. The first is, we will be including what 60 Minutes did not report as part of the Raw Story series on the case. Instead of 5 installments, we will now have 6. Second, all of you as citizens of this nation must voice your concerns about this situation to CBS. You want a free press? Then fight for it!

http://www.atlargely.com/don_siegelman/index.html

[EFerrari]

17. KIck for justice.

:kick:

[L. Coyote]

18. REC & complain to Human Rights Groups too!

[EFerrari]

23. Thank you so much for paying attention.

:kick:

[trof]

19. Many thanks. Will do.

[EFerrari]

24. Thank you, trof.

There's so much going on, it's so easy to screen things out.

Thanks for paying attention.

[Justpat]

22. K&R n/t

[suffragette]

25. Thanks for the reminder

Very disheartening to hear the 60 minutes story is being delayed/shut down.
Bravo to you and Larisa for not letting go of this.

This also reminded me to see if Scott Horton had any newer articles on this for Harper's. Went there and saw this article by him. It looks like they're after another Democrat there. Grrrr.

Another Election Season, Another Political Prosecution in Alabama

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc-90002293

[EFerrari]

27. Thanks for the link. It's hard to keep up with these fire starters.

:grr:

[suffragette]

31. It sure is

Seems like while we're stamping on one fire, they're starting five more.

They run on fear and intimidation and this is strongly following that pattern.
From the link:
“My client is a wonderful, dedicated educator. It’s been her life’s work. These charges are garbage,” said her attorney Buck Watson. He also noted that he had advised the U.S. Attorney that if they decided to indict his client, she would come in on her own, and he would handle it–an offer spurned in favor of the heavy-handed arrest squad. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s bizarre.” I spoke with several of Schmitz’s colleagues, who were shocked by the charges. And it’s spreading a message of cold fear in the community. Others with whom I communicated were afraid to have their names appear in print. “This is a political vendetta. Anyone who objects to what they’re doing will become a target,” one teacher told me.

So why would a federal prosecutor put such tremendous resources into arresting and prosecuting a retired social studies teacher? Schmitz is an irresistible target. She’s a Democratic member of the state legislature. Note how Alice Martin’s loudly trumpeted indictment works in a perfect trifecta:

• The battle plan rolled out to retake the legislature, announcing “corrupt Democrats” as the target

• The Newhouse papers run the call to arms and funds, and print a sequence of stories designed to make it all credible

• The U.S. attorney’s office in Birmingham announces the indictment of a “corrupt Democrat” retired school teacher.

[EFerrari]

28. Have to go out for a while and will be back.

Thank you to all the DUers who have kept this kicked.

What Don was put through is unconscionable. And still is today.

Thanks for your help.

[Usrename]

30. k&r

kick for Gov. Siegelman :patriot:

[mentalsolstice]

32. Punt & Rec.

Don is from my city, and we've seen him and Lori out and about many times, I've talked to her several times at the grocery store. They're very gracious people who support their community. For a time back in the summer, his family didn't know his whereabouts, as the feds kept moving him around in the middle of the night. It's really been a sore subject for us Dems here in AL.

Thank you for keeping it on the forefront.

[bluesmail]

33. KICK & RECOMMENDED

terrible being a political prisoner,and in THIS country no less!

[EFerrari]

35. Kick

[annabanana]

38. k&r. . The whole thing stinks to high Heavens. . . . .n/t

[Pastiche423]

39. Kick for Governor Don

and recommended.

[Oilwellian]

40. I'll be sure to send him a card by the 24th

Did you happen to see the Judiciary hearing today with Mukasey? The end of it was stunning...the congressman from Alabama, can't think of his name, he used to be a prosecuting attorney in Alabama, was CUT OFF due to time constraints by CONYERS. And that's how it ENDED. I was furious to say the least and Mukasey weaseled out of answering to any investigations going on in regard to Siegelman, Iglesias and McKay. :mad:

[EFerrari]

43. I didn't catch that. Maybe they'll run it again.

:grr:

Thanks for your help, G.O.

[Syrinx]

63. that was Artur Davis

He's my congressman.

He's very smart, and Harvard educated. In many ways he is a lot better than his predecessor, Earl Hilliard. Hilliard is dumb as hell and an anti-Semite and palled around with Qadaffi (sp?) when he was in congress. Despite all that, maybe his voting record was better than Davis,' who voted for the "bankruptcy reform bill" and for the Military Commissions Act, etc.

[Dawggie]

41. Hot damn, even my 80 yo mother i sending him a card.

She is even asking what else she can do for him. She lives in AL and is the Dem that offered me fare to Canada during the Viet Nam war.

I love here dearly,

[EFerrari]

44. You have a great mother.

:toast:

[Dawggie]

47. I have felt that way for a long time.

My parents were both pretty cool in the 60's and 70's.

My father had no choice in the matter. :)

[EFerrari]

62. LOL!

We have the same Mom. :)

[Dawggie]

64. Then we're both terribly lucky.

:)

[AzDar]

42. K & R...

:kick:

[havocmom]

46. And again

:kick:

[L. Coyote]

45. When is a Prosecution Political?

When is a Prosecution Political?
Scott Horton - February 7, 2008 - http://harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc-90002323

Once a year, in January, the U.S. Government asks me to give a day-long presentation to Foreign Service Officers, FBI agents and Justice Department officials on the legal systems of the post-Soviet world to help prepare them for a posting overseas in . . .

[mitchtv]

48. I'll send him a nice one tomorrow

I'M appalled

[EFerrari]

49. Thank you.

:)

[mitchtv]

51. can I address ti to Gov. Don Siegelman? nt

[EFerrari]

55. That's the form of address I use.

:)

[mod mom]

74. My letter was sent that way & was received.

[midnight]

50. I won't forget.

[Zoigal]

53. Have been reading about his case...will get a card off

for his BD. Reminds me of Susan McDougal, Thanks. z

[EFerrari]

54. Thank you, Zoigal!

:)

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

56. K & R. Thank you for posting.

:kick:

[Hekate]

57. Kick This country should hang its collective head in shame. nt

:kick:

[donheld]

58. I'll kick it

We American's are kept soooo in the dark on so many important issues. Thank god we're kept well informed on important shit like Britney Spears. :sarcasm:

[EFerrari]

59. Thank you for your help with this thread, my friends.

http://media.graytvinc.com/images/don+siegelman.jpg

[motocicleta]

60. I'll send him a card tomorrow

Thanks, sf.

k n r

[EFerrari]

61. Thank you, moto!

:)

[Pacifist Patriot]

65. Done!

[Justice]

67. it is unbelievable that the transcripts are not done, makes no sense--

A court reporter makes LOTS of money doing transcripts from a trial - they can charge more for expedited requests - I know a court reporter who remodeled a room in their house from transcripts from one trial.

Court reporters live for transcripts requested by one party or the other - that is where they make their real money.

In federal courts, each judge typically has his or her own court reporter(s) - they prepare the transcripts, they work for the courts. This court reporter in this case is an employee of the Fed government. These jobs are great jobs, but you have to be talented to get them (ie you have to be able to produce transcripts accurately and quickly).

It makes absolutely no sense that these transcripts are not completed. There can be only one reason - that someone is making it more lucrative for this court reporter NOT to complete the transcripts.

[Pacifist Patriot]

69. A friend of mine is a court reporter. She says this is beyond belief.

[LizW]

71. True. This is incredibly wrong.

Even in the most mundane of cases, you can get a transcript almost overnight if you are willing to pay. The judge in this case is crooked. I'd be willing to bet that he is behind the transcript delay. Probably telling the court reporter she will not get any jobs unless she sits on the Seigelman transcript.

If I had on my nice tinfoil hat instead of my everyday one, I might wonder how the first court reporter working on the transcript died. Typing too fast, maybe?????

[EFerrari]

76. There is no way the judge isn't behind this.

When I worked in the Federal courts, I could be jailed for being late to work, let alone not completing my work in a timely fashion.

[flashl]

68. K&R n/t

[mod mom]

70. kick for exposure

[lala_rawraw]

72. excellent post and KICK/Rec

:S

[mod mom]

73. kick for exposure

[EFerrari]

75. Wow! Look at this thread!

Thank you!

:grouphug:

:)

[Laura PourMeADrink]

77. Thanks for the heads up. He sent me a card after he got mine

at xmas. I worked on a couple campaigns with him. He is a fine and decent person whose been screwed royally. I hope 60 Minutes gets their expose out soon.

[EFerrari]

79. He seems to be having a rough time just now.

Let's remember his birthday.

Thank you, Laura.

[ramapo]

78. Obama/Clinton

First day in office he should be granted a full pardon.

I don't know what makes me sicker, the fact that he is in jail or the fact that he is being allowed to languish there.

[Pastiche423]

80. Another ...

:kick: for Governor Don!