Monday, December 3, 2007

Message From a Political Prisoner

How would you feel if you knew you were going to federal prison in less than a month for a crime you did not commit? What if you were about to become a political prison in a country that is supposed to be the "greatest democracy on earth?"

If you are like me, you cannot imagine it. But that's a reality for former Mississippi chancery judge Wes Teel. He was convicted on corruption-related charges, along with attorney Paul Minor and fellow judge John Whitfield. Minor already is in federal prison, and the two former judges are to report at the end of this month.

Over the course of 20-plus posts here at Legal Schnauzer, we have shown that all three of these men are innocent. In fact, both Teel and Whitfield acted as they were required to act under the facts and the law before them in two lawsuits involving Paul Minor's clients. The irony? Had Teel and Whitfield intentionally not ruled in favor of Minor's clients, they would have, technically, committed a federal crime. But that would have been fine with the Bush Justice Department, and Teel and Whitfield would be looking forward to spending the holidays at home.

As for Minor, I suspect the feds were determined to get him one way or another. How dare he give money to Democratic candidates? Teel and Whitfield just got caught in the crossfire.

Teel's Gulf Coast Realist blog is a must read for anyone who cares about the human toll taken by our corrupt justice system. His most recent post is particularly compelling. It's hard not to read it and weep.

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