Postville Convictions Were Scripted

The quick justice to undocumented immigrants rounded up in the Postville, IA, raids (See post for June 24 and August1, 2008.) seems to have been scripted beforehand by the Justice Department with the approval of the chief judge and federal prosecutor in Iowa. It was supposedly to assist defense lawyers prepare their cases -- so says the Justice Department. Critics, however, suspect the script -- a series of documents and possible scenarios -- was meant more to wring out guilty pleas to criminal charges. An ACLU attorney characterized the process as leading to "fast-track guilty pleas". A congressional subcommittee is investigating with prospects of hearings. While some attorneys were not upset with the script and found it helpful, others smell collusion between judge and prosecutors. (See NY Times article.)