Paul Minor Might Not Be Allowed to Attend His Wife's Funeral

Sources close to Paul Minor say the incarcerated Mississippi attorney is being told by federal prison officials that he will not be able to attend the funeral for his wife, Syliva, who died late Monday after a long battle with breast cancer.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Minor an emergency release to be with his wife of 41 years in her final days. His attorneys sought an emergency furlough from the Department of Justice, but Mrs. Minor died before any action could be taken.

Now sources tell us that Minor probably will not be allowed to attend his wife's funeral.

The Minor case has been filled with outrages, many of which we have chronicled here at Legal Schnauzer. The biggest outrage is that he was prosecuted, convicted, and sent to prison for a crime he clearly did not commit.

But the notion that Minor might be kept from his wife's funeral is sickening--and appalling--in what is supposed to be the world's foremost democracy.

What was Paul Minor's real "crime"? Being a generous supporter of Democratic causes and candidates in a state where Karl Rove had deep ties and was determined to join with pro-business forces to take over the state courts.

What was Paul Minor's greatest misfortune? Having his case assigned to a corrupt judge, Reagan appointee Henry Wingate, who pulled jury instructions out of thin air and made numerous unlawful rulings, causing Minor and codefendants Wes Teel and John Whitfield to be convicted for "crimes" that do not exist under the law.

Hopefully, Henry Wingate will be impeached and sent to prison for the federal crimes he committed in the Minor case. That he hasn't already been removed from the bench for gross misconduct and criminal behavior is symbolic of the lack of oversight in our justice system.

Federal judges--all judges really--are accountable to almost no one. And because of that, a human tragedy is taking place right under our noses.

Try to wrap your mind around this: An innocent man might be kept from attending his wife's funeral--after he was kept from seeing her in her final days.

I can't help but think that Attorney General Eric Holder has the authority to do something about this. But where is he when rampant abuse is going on under his department? Is he asleep at the switch?