Paul Minor Denied Release by 5th Circuit and Justice Department

Justice Department officials told the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday that the government opposes the release of Paul Minor, the prominent Mississippi trial attorney currently serving 11 years in prison following his selective prosecution by the Bush DOJ. The 5th Circuit moved quickly to deny Minor's motion for release.

Minor remains locked up in the Pensacola Federal Prison Camp while his wife Sylvia's condition continues to deteriorate. "Her demise is imminent," according to an April 4 report from the oncologist monitoring the progression of her terminal brain cancer.

The wording of the 5th Circuit Court's denial does offer a ray of hope that the two might be reunited, but only if the Obama Justice Department moves quickly to support his emergency furlough. The 5th Circuit response indicates that the judges deliberating Minor's appeal agree that he meets the requirements necessary for a temporary furlough. Different from the release on bail that Minor requested, a temporary furlough could be granted for a period of up to 30 days, allowing Minor to spend time with his dying spouse and to say goodbye in a dignified manner.

The Bureau of Prisons and the Warden could grant a brief furlough for a bedside visit with an armed guard, if deemed necessary. With any luck, the BOP and Warden will allow Minor an extended visit to love and comfort his wife and family under the 30 day furlough statute. Any sense of human decency requires no less - especially when there are substantial questions raised in Mr. Minor's appeal that will likely require reversal of his conviction.

Curiously, the 5th Circuit judges based their denial of Minor's release on Judge Priscilla Owen's previous denial last year of Minor's request for release pending his appeal. Judge Owen recused herself from Minor's case minutes before the appeal hearing began last week in Austin, Texas.

Owen's recusal was appropriate given her close ties to Karl Rove, who is currently under investigation by the House Judiciary Committee for allegedly targeting key Democrats for prosecution, including Paul Minor, and for his role in the ousting of U.S. attorneys who refused to carry out the partisan bidding of the Bush administration.

Rove was reportedly "very impressed" with Priscilla Owen's judicial philosophy when the two met in 1994, and he agreed to shepherd her onto the Texas Supreme Court, collecting nearly a quarter million dollars in fees in the process. Ever since then, according to The New York Times, Priscilla Owen has been "guided by the hand of Karl Rove."

In the Texas Supreme Court race, Rove helped Owen amass a war chest of over $926,000 in campaign contributions from Big Business and the ranks of the Texas GOP. Owen then obliged some of her biggest donors by ruling favorably on their lawsuits with amazing consistency. The watchdog group Texans For Public Justice reported "more than $500,000 (37 percent) of the $1.4 million that Owen raised for her two Supreme Court campaigns came from lawyers and litigants who had cases in her courtroom... Owen's 11 biggest litigant-donors (including Enron Corp., Farmers Insurance and Dow Chemical) appeared in her courtroom 26 times. While these big docket donors prevailed an enviable 77 percent of the time before the court as a whole, Owen was even kinder - favoring them 85 percent of the time."

(Ironically, prior to her election to the Court, Priscilla Owen wrote articles and lobbied the Texas Legislature to eliminate partisan election of judges, arguing that they hinder the ability of courts to provide impartial justice.)

A member of the ultra-conservative Federalist Society, Judge Owen was finally appointed to the 5th Circuit Court by George W. Bush in 2005. Congress blocked her first nomination in 2003. A contemporary New York Times editorial stated that Judge Owen's "ideology drives her decisions," and that her nomination was "not by chance," because the Bush White House sought out judges like Owen for their "aggressive conservative agendas."

Another editorial from Owen's hometown newspaper, the Houston Chronicle, chastised her "clear preference for ruling to achieve a particular result rather than impartially interpreting the law."

A 2005 New York Times article characterized Owens' nomination as "the latest reward of a partnership that began a dozen years ago when a prominent Texas conservative introduced her to Karl Rove, who was at the time a political consultant and emerging kingmaker."

According to the Times article, "Ms. Owen, Mr. Bush and Mr. Rove became close friends. Each year, Ms. Owen cooked a dinner of quail, a Texas specialty, for Mr. Bush, Laura Bush and other judges on the court, usually at Mr. Rove's home."

Given the near certainty that Rove was the chief strategist behind the Bush Justice Department's targeted prosecutions of Democratic fundraisers including Paul Minor, Owen's impartiality in hearing Minor's appeal was questionable, and she was correct to recuse herself. Why the 5th Circuit panel is relying on Owen's previous denial of Minor's release to deny him bail now is mystifying.

The Obama Justice Department should move quickly to review the circumstances of Minor's conviction. More immediately, given Mrs. Minor's condition, DOJ should grant Paul Minor an emergency furlough to say goodbye to his wife Sylvia.

Comments

[Thingsinflight]

Paul Minor has made mistakes but to give him no opportunity to be with his dying wife is cruel and unusual punishment. The entire start to finish of his prosecution needs to be investigated. I'm just wondering what exactly the conservatives in this country are hell bent on conserving? A Draconian and fascist regime that has abrogated the basics of our constitution,that serves only the wealthy and gains a base of poor people by pounding on their belief in God? Which God I wonder? The God of power,of money? They certainly fair horribly in upholding any semblance of the teachings of Jesus that supposedly underlies their beliefs. Sadly, there can be no conversation with someone who believes they are right and that God is their justification for the evils they perpetrate regardless of what religion they profess. The Bush administration has much to answer to as does the rest of the financial and political
criminals that have bloomed in the Republican garden.

[Absintheforall]

Why can't his wife be brought to him for a farewell visit? They have the capability to do that. Sounds like he just wants a drink..

[roald]

A dying woman, transported in an ambulance, and brought through prison security. Get real.

[LeLoup]

"Justice Department officials told the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday that the government opposes the release of Paul Minor..."

These officials are from the Obama DOJ, right? Can't we have their names...or is it now the custom to have anonymous prosecutors? Why do they oppose his release?

Or is it just another manifestation of how crass and corrupt the DOJ remains under Obama? Just look at their attempts to not only uphold the trampling of civil liberties under Bush, but to expand it even further in the Bagram detainees case and the wiretapping case,too.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/06/obama/index.html
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/09/tpm/index.html
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_Administration_quietly_expands_Bushs_legal_0407.html

[rOundman09]

Let the man go already. Isn't the death of his wife while he sits in jail enough punishment?
Why aren't all the real crooks, like the ones who milked the American people of billions of dollars, in jail?
Does anybody care that there is one type of justice for certain groups and another type for others?
There is the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Paul Minor's case is a definite violation of the spirit of the law. There is a difference between Justice and political revenge and vendettas.

Let the man go free!

[Liberal2]

Armed robbers, drug users, and democrats are the main targets of the US criminal system.

You'll note Ted Stevens is out of jail.

[Sealthbomber]

That's exactly what I've been saying since Watergate. Nixon, on tape saying stuff like "Stonewall it!" and "Deep Six it!" gets a snazzy pardon after totally violating his presidential oath to uphold, preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States. Georgia Thompson, some lower echelon clerical functionary in Wisconsin gets sent up on some trumped up charge over contract bidding that wouldn't amount to a row of pins compared to Nixon's merry pranks. It is NOT liberty and justice for all. It's which political party you're affiliated with which basically means how much money you have. Ordinary Americans who work for a living couldn't get away with one tenth of what the Republicans have pulled off like CREEP, the Plumbers, Iran-Contra, bogus evidence to invade Iraq and the long list of character assassinations that the GOP has committed just to keep their hands on the levers of power.

[esoterica]

Rove needs to take Minor's place in jail. This entire thing is ridiculous - but not even letting the guy out to see his dying wife? That's amazing.

[bmmorgan]

Keep up the good reporting on the sorry long-lasting ramifications of the Bush-Rove white house, Mr. DeMelle. This story has tragic Shakespearean overtones, but I want a happy ending.

[itsobb]

Paul Minor needs to be granted the furlough immediately. This is a complete travesty and it's unbelievable that he isn't out already.

[DoubtingDot]

Why on earth should he be given a release when he has already been released TWICE on his own and broke the rules both times! He got drunk on one and was gone from his monitor for over 4 hours on the other and at a place that served alcohol, all rule breakers. Why should some innocent victim risk being killed by him,drunk again, when he is the guilty party and is in prison for bribing judges racketeering, fraud and other counts. How many poor and underprivileged prisoners would love to be released from prison to be with ill or dying family just once! His third furlough had to be under armed guards at the expense of the government. He doesn't deserve a fourth!

[offred]

Honey, if I were jailed by a bunch of corrupt Republicans, I'd drink too.

[Florentine]

DoubtingDot, why are you harping on Minor's past? He is sober now. It's not relevant. Move on.

What IS relevant is that he was convicted illegally, and the 5th Circuit just took the cowardly way out by basing the denial of his release on a decision made last year by the same Judge who felt compelled to recuse herself this time around b/c she cooks quail for Karl Rove, who HAPPENS to be under investigation for illegally targeting Paul Minor!

Furlough should be granted RIGHT NOW, while the DOJ moves forward to free him permanently.

And "poor and underprivileged prisoners" who meet the same qualifications for furlough (and release) that Paul Minor has should be treated with justice and fairness too! The unfair treatment of others doesn't justify the unfair treatment of Paul Minor. What planet are you on?!

[DoubtingDot]

I'm on down to Earth not with my head in the coulds and stars as you. And why shouldn't the relevant past be considered? Leopards don't change their spots.

[ignrnthllblly]

You are severely misinformed. When the Bureau of Prisons grants a furlough (and damned few are granted), it both requires that the inmate be under the constant supervision of a BOP corrections officer and that the cost be borne by the inmate.

Hence, in practice, those costs prohibit most inmates from even seeking a furlough. If the inmate in this story wasn't wealthy, you wouldn't be reading this story.

http://www.fedcure.org/MessageFromtheDirector.htm

[Florentine]

Grant Paul Minor the furlough NOW.

Then free him permanently and reverse his illegal prosecution and the injustices that have been waged against him and his family by the Bush/Rove/­Owen/Texas quail evil empire.

[awoj]

Here is thanks in advance to the Obama Justice Department for the courage they will demonstrate by risking the accusation of further partisan politics in order to do what is right. Here is thanks in advance for thier granting this furlough.

[DoubtingDot]

President Obama and DOJ if anyone is reading any of this then please don't listen to this beeding heart liberal rhetoric. Minor is guilty and has been convicted and should do his full time in prison! Doing "what is right" means he needs to be locked away from society.

[ignrnthllblly]

Again, you are severely misinformed. Minor is in a Federal Prison Camp. He isn't locked away at all.