Pubdate: Thu, 02 Sep 2004
Source: Tennessean, The (TN)
56719587
Copyright: 2004 The Tennessean
Contact:  http://www.tennessean.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/447
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/ashcroft.htm (Ashcroft, John)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

IS THE ARTICLE REAL OR IS IT ASHCROFT ASTRO-TURFING?

If witnesses in a criminal trial all told the same story, a U.S. attorney 
might question if they had collaborated on their story for the benefit of a 
defendant.

So when Middle Tennessee's U.S. Attorney, Jim Vines, writes an opinion 
piece on mandatory minimum sentencing that reads like a similarly written 
article by the Eastern District U.S. Attorney Sandy Mattice for the 
Chattanooga Times Free Press, and another article by a federal prosecutor 
in Guam, he shouldn't be surprised that someone might ask how this occurred.

Vines is entitled to his opinion, even one remarkably like that expressed 
by other federal prosecutors. He explained that he had taken some talking 
points and statistics from a U.S. Department of Justice report and used it 
in his article, but he insisted the department was not directly involved in 
the article.

Pardon the suspicions, but Attorney General John Ashcroft hasn't shown much 
of a preference for independence in his U.S. attorneys. Many attorneys 
general run a tight ship, but Ashcroft's is tighter than most. Indeed, 
Ashcroft has called for prosecutors to monitor which judges are more 
lenient on sentencing, a threat to judicial independence if there ever was one.

Astro-turfing or phony grassroots campaigning on mandatory minimum 
sentencing sounds like the department doesn't brook much freedom of thought 
there either. It also sounds like red meat for an election year bid to be 
the toughest on crime. With a war on terror, the Justice Department surely 
has better things to do than provide talking points for its attorneys.

The issue of mandatory minimum sentencing deserves the widest possible 
debate within the federal government and within states. While it can cause 
prison overcrowding and long sentences for lesser crimes, it has an impact 
close to home. Federal prosecutors may be employees of the U.S. Department 
of Justice, but the cases they choose and the decisions they make directly 
impact the communities they serve. State and federal prosecutors need 
leeway to make the best decisions to fight crime in their areas.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, one of the court's 
conservatives, has called for scrapping mandatory minimum sentencing for 
certain federal crimes. People do have different views. The scales of 
justice have two sides. The Department of Justice should have no less.
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