Democratic cowardice and confusion in replacing even a prosecutor so disgraced as Canary is no reason to recruit Beck. His conflict is so serious that the Senate Judiciary Committee must grill him expertly at his confirmation hearing -- in ways far beyond the committee's usual rubber-stamp process for Alabama personnel -- about his role in the Siegelman-Scrushy case, referenced below for brevity as the Siegelman case since all of Scrushy's convictions and seven-year prison term were caused solely by what he's described as innocent donations to an education non-profit at Siegelman's request. The Siegelman prosecution remains a human rights scandal of the worldwide infamy. Even if Beck survives thorough hearings to win confirmation he and all his office's most senior career holdovers must recuse themselves from the Siegelman case and its important spin-offs. That means Beck's recusal not simply from formal filings, but also from related personnel decisions such as pay raises and promotions that would make his job as a supervisor almost impractical.
Birmingham lawyer G. Douglas Jones, a former U.S. attorney in the Clinton years, has been one of Beck's most vocal supporters. Maybe that's because Jones, like Beck, also played a role in the Siegelman case, even though he had major conflicts of interest.
In in his upcoming installments, Kreig will report on Jones' support for George Beck. We will follow with our own examination of Doug Jones' actions in an Alabama system that seems to feature a bipartisan effort to protect elites while dispensing little that remotely resembles justice.
Doug Jones seems to have found a way to make himself a kingmaker in Alabama. We see ample evidence indicating that is not a good sign for progressive interests, either here or beyond our borders.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
