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Siegelman Saga Drags On: Supremes Next for Former Governor?

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Created on Thursday, 31 May 2012 15:47
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News of Our Mutual Friend [Don Siegelman]
by Al Gore
Dear Friend; Don Siegelman's recent petition to the U.S. Supreme Court will make history - one way or the other - and may be the most important decision for the preservation of justice and democracy that the court will have rendered in recent times.

Even Republican journalist, George Will, said recently in The Washington Post: Is it bribery or just politics?

“Everyone who cares about the rule of law should hope the Supreme Court agrees to hear Don Siegelman’s appeal…. [T]oday’s confusion and the resulting prosecutorial discretion kill the exercise of Constitutional right, of political participation and can imprison people unjustly.”

 
113 former state attorneys general, both Republicans and Democrats, filed a "friend of the court" brief in support of Don stating that what Don was accused of doing was never considered a crime until he was convicted of it!
 

The state Attorneys General say in their brief :

“This case is about the criminalization of First Amendment freedoms—the giving and receiving of campaign contributions...that will significantly alter the liberty of constituents to contribute to political campaigns without fear of criminal liability…”

 
Now we need the Supreme Court to agree to hear Don's case. If they don't, the lower court decision will stand, and an innocent man will be resentenced to prison. We can't let that happen.

I’m writing to ask that you support Don's fight for freedom and justice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In editorial after editorial The New York Times has questioned the prosecution and called on Congress and the Department of Justice to investigate the case against Don.

  • “Attorney General Eric Holder should investigate the case against Don Siegelman, the Alabama governor convicted in 2006 on dubious corruption charges, for prosecutorial misconduct.” April 25, 2009.
  • “Congress should keep investigating the prosecution of Don Siegelman and what role crass politics may have played in his conviction. “June 16, 2008
  • “There is still a lot of questionable Justice Department activity for Congress to sort through. The imprisonment of Don Siegelman, a former Democratic governor of Alabama, should be at the top of the list.” September 10, 2007
 
The "crime?” ...reappointing a campaign contributor to the same nonpaying state board, to which he had been appointed by three previous governors. The contribution was not even to Don’s campaign but to a campaign supporting a state referendum to establish a lottery to support public education…something that has never been considered a crime in America.

Neither Don nor his election campaign received a penny. There was not even an allegation of an express quid pro quo.

CBS’s 60 Minutes, February 24,2008 exposed gross government misconduct. In The Prosecution of Siegelman: CBS reports that Grant Woods, Republican Attorney General from Arizona and Republican Co -Chair of the 2008 John McCain Presidential campaign said:
 
“They targeted Siegelman with this prosecution because they couldn’t beat him fair and square.”…
 

I am asking you to help Don fight for his freedom in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

I have contributed financially to Don’s Legal Defense Fund and I have pledged my personal support. I'm standing with Don. Will you join me?

Don needs your help. You can help Don and help to fight for justice by clicking this link: “Yes ,I’ll help Don.”

Or you may send your contribution to:

Siegelman LDF
PO Box 430116
Birmingham, AL 35243

Thank you for joining me in this fight for justice for Don Siegelman, and… justice for us all.

Sincerely yours,  
Al Gore