The selective prosecution of Paul Minor.

The selective prosecution of Paul Minor is one of the many outrages that were perpetrated by the Justice Department during the tenures of John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales. He was convicted of doing what many other lawyers in Mississippi were doing on both parties -- spending dollars so that their favorite judges were elected. And the charge that he was convicted on was so vague that it is unconstitutional because of the lack of specific charges against him.

The Justice Department indicted Justice Diaz and Mr. Minor on an array of unconvincing bribery and fraud charges. Justice Diaz was acquitted of all of them. The federal prosecutors then brought tax evasion charges against him. Justice Diaz was acquitted again and still sits on the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Mr. Minor was not as lucky. He beat many of the charges in the first trial, but the jury failed to reach a verdict on others. Federal prosecutors went after him again, and this time Mr. Minor was convicted on vague allegations of trying to get “an unfair advantage” from judges — the very thing Mississippi’s lax campaign finance laws are set up to allow.

The case fits a familiar pattern. The corruption Mr. Minor was charged with was disturbingly vague, as it was with Ms. Thompson, whose only “crime” was awarding a contract to the lowest bidder, and Mr. Siegelman, who was convicted for fairly routine political behavior.

This is what happens when we have a Justice Department who prosecutes for political reasons -- the other side gets an unfair political advantage, and the Democrats are intimidated from participating in the system. The Democrats in the Senate Judiciary Committee should question Michael Mukasey about the nature of these prosecutions. We should not confirm him unless he pledges to enforce the law fairly and equally and not to let partisan affiliation govern the decisions to prosecute.

And if we are to have a government that respects human rights, then people should not engage in political activity with the fear that if the wrong side wins, they will be prosecuted for vague and unconstitutional misconduct charges. Whatever political participation model is followed must encourage participation in the political process, not suppress it or create the kind of climate of fear that was created in Mississippi.

This is the sort of thing that can undermine the very foundations of our government. In countries all over the world, political parties are shut out of the process and then boycott the elections or resort to violence because there is nothing to be gained from participation.

tags: paul minor  political prosecutions  constitution  human rights  mississippi  alberto gonzales  john ashcroft  michael mukasey  attorney general  

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