|
Newsbrief:
House
Republicans
Hold
Off
on
Subpoena
of
Federal
Judge
3/21/03
DRCNet reported last week
that Republicans on the House Judiciary Committtee were about to subpoena
Minnesota federal court Chief Judge James Rosenbaum in an effort to punish
him for speaking out against harsh federal drug sentences and for allegedly
sentencing at least two drug defendants to less time than the law required.
But the Wall Street Journal, the only major media outlet to cover the story,
reported on March 13 that committee Republicans have agreed to hold off
on the subpoena after Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the ranking Democrat on
the committee, offered to mediate the dispute.
The tussle between Rosenbaum
and the committee Republicans had simmered for months before being brought
to a head two weeks ago, when Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) said in a letter
seeking the subpoena that Judge Rosenbaum had "imposed illegal sentences
in at least two cases" and that he was seeking a subpoena to "reveal further
illegality on his part in sentencing additional criminal defendants."
The judge's attorney, former
US Attorney Victoria Toensing, argued that he neither misled the committee
in his testimony last year -- in which he argued that federal law required
him to impose harsh and unfair sentences on defendants with minor roles
in drug cases -- nor violated sentencing laws. Rosenbaum had indeed
sentenced some defendants to less time that required by federal sentencing
guidelines, Toensing told the Journal, but those were lawful "downward
departures." Toensing also said that the committee's move to subpoena
Judge Rosenbaum's sealed transcripts and other court records overstepped
congressional authority.
Federal judges are watching
with interest and concern. "The judiciary takes very seriously any
potential threat to judicial independence," a spokesman for the Administrative
Office of the US Courts told the Journal.
Rosenbaum is a former US
Attorney appointed to the federal bench by President Reagan in 1987.
-- END --
|
Issue #279, 3/21/03
New York City Mayor Bloomberg Backs Needle Exchange, But Where's the Money? | Medical Marijuana Update: Bills Killed in Arkansas, Wyoming But Moving Forward in Maryland, Vermont, Bad Bill Introduced in Oregon | UN Says Colombian Coca Cultivation Down 30 Percent, Overall Production Down, Too -- Experts Say Not Really | Newsbrief: Marco Cappato in Jail for British Marijuana Civil Disobedience | Newsbrief: Mexican Governor Candidate Says Legalize Drugs | Newsbrief: Guardian Newspaper Calls on Britons to Promote Home Grows, Not Prosecute Them | Newsbrief: Vancouver Ponders "Safe Smoking Materials" for Crack Users | Newsbrief: Medical Marijuana Hits the Shelves in Dutch Pharmacies | Newsbrief: New Jersey Bans Racial Profiling | Newsbrief: NJ Weedman Sues Comcast, Asks $420,000 | Newsbrief: House Republicans Hold Off on Subpoena of Federal Judge | Newsbrief: Informant Nailed for Fake Ecstasy Scam | The Reformer's Calendar
|
Mail this article to a friend
Send us feedback on this article
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
Subscribe now!
|
PERMISSION to reprint or
redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby
granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and,
where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your
publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks
payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we
request notification for our records, including physical copies where
material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202)
293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank
you.
Articles of a purely
educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet
Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
|
