http://www.atlargely.com/2009/03/roves-former-client-to-preside-over-minor-appeal.htmlMarch 31, 2009
Rove's former client to preside over Minor appeal...If you are new to the political prosecutions/US Attorney scandal, read the links at the end of this entry first and also my various postings here and here. Then come back and read the latest, directly below.
##
Tomorrow Paul Minor's lawyers will present their oral arguments for his appeal in front of a 3 judge panel from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.What is astonishing about this bit of news is who is on the 3 judge panel. You may recall my article noting the alleged unethical involvement of Karl Rove's former client, now judge, in the Minor bond appeal.
Let me cite some of that information for you:
The federal judge who denied a prominent Democratic fundraiser's motion for release pending appeal last week is a former client and protégé of former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove.
On Aug. 15, US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Priscilla Owen upheld a lower court’s decision to keep Mississippi attorney Paul Minor in jail pending his appeal, adding more controversy to a case already steeped by allegations of both a politically motivated prosecution and conflicts of interest on the part of the US Attorney.
<snip>
Priscilla R. Owen was one of the Bush administration’s most conservative and most controversial judicial appointees. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted against Owen’s confirmation as a federal judge in 2002.
A New York Times op-ed excoriated Bush for nominating Owen a second time over the objections of the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying that “ignoring the committee's decision is only one in a growing list of ways the White House and its allies have politicized judicial selection.” Ultimately, Bush got his way and Owen was confirmed following a second battle in Congress.
It was Karl Rove’s interest in seeing Owen on the bench that kept her nomination alive, despite strong criticism of her hard-right interpretation of the law.
Rove had a longstanding interest in Owen’s career, beginning in 1994, when Owen hired him as a campaign consultant in her successful bid for a seat on the Texas Supreme Court, paying him $250,000 for his efforts. Rove helped Owen raise over $900,000 for that campaign.
Jim Moore, a long-time Texas journalist who has chronicled Rove’s career in several books, including Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, explained the unique relationship between Rove and Owen in a Wednesday phone interview.
"He did everything for her. He created her career. He handpicked her to go to the Texas Supreme Court when he was trying to take over the Texas Supreme Court,” said Moore. “He was looking for people to groom and raise money for and have in his pipeline. Rove went and plucked her out of obscurity. She was an unknown lawyer in Houston.”
According to a
2003 article in Mother Jones “(Rove) signed on, giving the candidate the seal of approval from the state’s corporate establishment.”
"Rove went and plucked her out of obscurity," says Moore, "He did everything he needed to to promote her. He's the guy who brought her name up to Bush for the federal appointment."
Okay, now one would think that seeing as how Karl Rove has been implicated in the US Attorney scandal and allegedly Paul Minor's prosecution, she would have recused herself from the above ruling. She did not. Moreover, these cases are assigned randomly I am told. So, how then does one explain how Judge Owen is suddenly assigned to hear the oral arguments tomorrow?
From the 5th Circuit calender:JUDGES WILL GARWOOD, PRISCILLA R. OWEN AND CATHARINA HAYNES
*No. 07-60748. United States of America vs. John H. Whitfield; Paul S. Minor; Walter W. Teel, Appellants
So, not only did Judge Owen not recuse herself from the ruling on Minor's motion for bond pending appeal, she has also now presiding over the appeal of his prosecution. In addition, inexplicably, the court moved the oral arguments in the Minor case from New Orleans to Texas, in a small courtroom. One can only imagine the various reasons such a move was made. I am sure there is a good explanation for it, but I have yet to receive it. Minor's supporters and local reporters are not going to go down to Texas to spend the whole day waiting for his case to be heard - which incidentally was scheduled for the end of the day.
Finally, I am told that Minor's attorney has filed a motion demanding that Owen recuse herself from this case. I will keep you posted as new information comes in.
MORE LINKS AT ORIGINAL
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
Away Down South, in Dixie! 
