Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Higginson should be asked by the Senate Judiciary Committee to explain why the government is so determined to imprison Ashton R. O'Dwyer, Jr. on the basis of a meritless charge that has been dismissed by an impartial federal judge.

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Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Higginson, the prosecuting attorney in the federal government's case against former New Orleans attorney Ashton R. O'Dwyer, Jr, is intent on sending O'Dwyer back to prison on the flimsiest of charges that he threatened a judge in an email.  Although the alleged threat was dismissed as nonexistent by an impartial federal judge from a different district, the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Orleans remains determined to silence O'Dwyer.

Previous accounts about the malicious prosecution of O'Dwyer have appeared in
OpEdNews and on my Web site.

Higginson now appears headed for a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the same appellate court that is currently deciding the government's case against O'Dwyer.  Thus far, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has missed the opportunity to learn from him why the government is so insistent on sending O'Dwyer back to jail.

Higginson, would appear to be uniquely qualified to explain why the government wants to imprison an individual on apparently meritless charges.  At issue is whether the government should be able to employ a pretext for the purpose of incarcerating a citizen who has become a target for political reasons, as appears to be the case with O'Dwyer.

Authors Website: http://www.tulanelink.com

Authors Bio:

Carl Bernofsky, Ph.D., is a former professor of biochemistry at Tulane University and Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. He is the author or co-author of numerous scientific publications and was the recipient of major awards from national granting agencies. A resident of New Orleans for 30 years, he relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina struck in August, 2005. For many years, he has been an advocate for judicial ethics reform and is working toward a legislative amendment that would require the recusal of adjunct faculty judges from cases that involve the universities that employ them. More recently, he has been advocating the use of tallowfuel as a renewable alternative to coal for the production of electricity.