Saturday, February 24, 2007

JC Watts and The Nifong Cite

As D.A.M.N. Appreciation Week draws to a close in Durham, we find another reminder of the nearly universal acceptance of the disrepute brought to the justice system by District Attorney Mike Nifong and his hijacking of the hoax.
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In his twice monthly column for the Pahrump Valley Times, JC Watts , former chairman of the Republican Conference of the U.S. House, where he served as an Oklahoma representative from 1995 to 2002, employs the Nifong cite by using Nifong’s scandal as an example of “government judicial shenanigans” to firm up his dual arguments that injustice occurred in the case of former Border Patrol agent David Sipe and that public servants who cheat must be held accountable.
“Sometimes, we have to step back and ask whether justice truly is being served.
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“On Jan. 26, a district court in Texas handed down an acquittal of David Sipe in a case that has stretched on for six years. Sipe, a former border patrol agent, was indicted for the use of excessive force in his dealing with an illegal alien.
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“Sipe caught the man crossing the border into the United States in 2000. Sipe said he was acting in self defense at the time of the incident. At his original trial in 2001, Sipe was convicted of the offense. The jury's verdict rested, in part, on the testimony of an illegal alien.
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“Sipe's lawyers appealed the verdict and sought a retrial after it was discovered that, in exchange for his testimony, the government had provided the illegal alien with a variety of benefits, including a Social Security card, a permit allowing free travel between the United States and Mexico, and living expenses. At the time of the trial, federal prosecutors denied that any such benefits had been provided.
“Sipe was granted a retrial, at which he was acquitted of the offense.
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“Earlier this year, we witnessed a similar affront to justice when North Carolina district attorney Mike Nifong resigned from the Duke University lacrosse rape case in the midst of accusations that he had failed to disclose pertinent evidence.
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“Nifong had claimed throughout the proceedings that he had provided the defense with all available evidence. Nifong now faces sanctions from the North Carolina state bar because he had no concern that the withheld evidence would almost shatter innocent lives.
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It wouldn't take long to scan the judicial archives of recent years and uncover many similar scenarios at both the state and federal levels.
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“The American judicial system was designed to operate in a manner that would warrant every citizen's confidence. A trend toward secrecy and deceit in our national judiciary undermines the very foundations of that confidence.
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“When I read about a case like Mr. Sipe's, I begin to wonder, how many other times has this happened, but no one found out? Is there still justice for the American citizen in the justice system?
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“What we are facing today is a loss of trust and integrity in the judicial system. Attorneys and judges strike deals behind closed doors to achieve politically expedient results; overzealous prosecutors conceal information or misstate facts to sway the ruling; judges fail to recuse themselves in cases involving their private interests; illegal immigrants are granted illegal benefits to testify against a U.S. citizen. Such blatant affronts will quickly destroy the trust of the American people in the system.
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“These examples have strong parallels in the private sector. One publicized example was the Enron corporate accounting scandal. Just like in Sipe's legal trial, the people who should have been the most trustworthy demonstrated an utter lack of integrity.
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But there is an important difference here: when Enron's executives were found out, they faced serious legal consequences, and the public was so outraged over the incident that the word "Enron" has become synonymous with corporate scandal and shady business practices.
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“Why is it that we expect integrity from the private sector, but write off these government judicial shenanigans as just being "the way government works"?
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“We, the American people, have a responsibility to hold our public servants accountable to a standard of true justice. If we fail to act or speak out when we witness the loss of integrity in our judicial system, then we are guilty too. We wouldn't tolerate a sports star cheating to gain the upper hand; we wouldn't tolerate a corporate executive cheating for personal gain; we cannot tolerate our public servants "cheating" in matters of justice because we all pay when they do.”
At a luncheon to kick of the week of celebrating prosecutorial misconduct, Defendant Nifong, with the help of the Snooze Room’s John Stevenson, attempted to portray his critics as out of touch with reality hecklers.

“District Attorney Appreciation Week" was launched Monday for embattled Durham chief prosecutor Mike Nifong, who suggested the event's organizers are more in tune with reality than countless out-of-state hecklers who criticize his handling of the controversial Duke lacrosse sex-offense case.”

"If you rely on certain media, you might think there is universal disapproval of me," Nifong said..."But if you're closer to home, you realize that's not true."

By employing the Nifong cite, former congressman Watts adds himself to the list of out of touch with reality hecklers that includes the North Carolina State Bar, the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys, members of the NC General Assembly and the US Congress, the New York Law Journal, Larry Klayman (founder of Judicial Watch), District Attorney Josh Marquis (vice president of the National District Attorneys Association), and countless others.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Liestoppers!

I anticipate we're witnessing the beginning of the D.A.M.N. Appreciation Decades.

His name came to represent illegal actions by a DA, permanently on the record, when he put Meehan on the stand to testify.

Anonymous said...

Nifong will continue to state he has a smoking gun as they handcuff him and place him the orange jump suit. In fact the picture of him demostrating the cholk hold looks like Nifong demostrating how he time and time again gets himself out of a "straight jacket". He is a wacko.

Anonymous said...

As much as some might find it tempting to hate Mr. Nifong, I cannot bring myself to do so. At this point, I find him an almost pitiable character. Here is a man who was so blinded by his ambition that he ended up destroying his career and the lives of three innocent people, not to mention tarnishing the reputation of his entire profession, his family, and the law enforcement in not just his city, but his entire region. The ancient Greeks used to write tragedies with similar plots. However, while I do pity him, I also believe he should be held accountable for his actions.

Anonymous said...

Whats with harrashing and jailing innocent border patrol guards? The fence was supposed to be built in 1988 at the first(and hopefully last)amnisty. We need to support the falsy convicted border patrol guys. The government is paying Detention Centers $100.00 dollars a day to house illegals and many have been here for years. Whats goin on?

Anonymous said...

Sorry - it is $100.00 dollars a day per illegal.

Anonymous said...

the guy from oklahoma is a republican. case closed.

Anonymous said...

Watts is a Republican, and therefore everything he says about illegal immigration and the damage it is doing to this country should be ignored? I am a Democrat. I live in Southern Arizona. Arizona has the highest rate of identity theft of any state in the US. Fully 1/3 of Arizona's entire prison population is composed of illegal aliens, most of them Mexicans. These are people who had no right to be in this country in the first place, who were arrested and convicted of committing crimes here, and many of these crimes were crimes of violence. We have large, organized gangs of Mexican criminals running around freely in this area -- just last week, 3 illegal aliens from Mexico were murdered by a rival smuggling gang trying to make a point about its "turf" -- this turf, so you understand, is many miles from the Mexican border -- on the US side. The people who are supposed to be defending the US, the Border Patrol, are constantly prevented from doing their job effectively by a US administration that wants to "integrate" Mexico, the US, and Canada into one North America Union. Mexico is the wealthiest country in Central America, having rich oil and gold reserves. It has more than enough resources to sustain and educate its own population. Yet it has failed to do so for hundreds of years now because of the massive corruption at every level of government. (Are you aware that the Mexican goverment imports 40,000 workers from Guatemala each year to pick fruit in Mexico because, according to the Mexican government, the local Mexicans are "too lazy" to do the work?).

Do you really believe that it is in the US' best interest to allow tens of millions of unskilled, undereducated Mexicans to become US citizens? What will be the effect on our country when these people, many of whom have no respect for our culture, our history, our language -- and most importantly, no respect for our laws -- are granted all the rights and privileges of US citizenship? Something to think about -- before you decide "case closed" on another story about illegal immigration and crime.

Anonymous said...

i am not referring to what he is saying about the illegal immigrants; i am saying what he has said about nifong is moot because he is a republican.

btw, the republicans, including your fearless leader, bush, are the ones behind the illegals. they love all that cheap labor that is not politically active.

Anonymous said...

That JC Watts is a really cool cat. Always comes out telling it like it really is.