"A Pillar Of Integrity"

Last Fall, Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) was convicted of lying about receiving gifts and huge discounts on his home renovations. A few days later, he lost his bid for re-election in a very close election. Since that time, he has been waiting to learn what his sentence would be.

But yesterday, all of that changed. On orders from Attorney General Eric Holder, the Justice Department has dropped all charges against Stevens, and has asked the trial judge to vacate the verdict. All of the media immediately began to talk about how Stevens was innocent and how he had been railroaded by the Justice Department. Personally, I don't know whether he's innocent or not. At this point, it really doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter because of the egregious errors committed by the Justice Department prosecutors. They were so far out of line that they could have convicted him regardless of whether he was innocent or guilty. It's a vivid portrait of just how far out of line the Justice Department had become under the Bush administration.

With the help and direction of Karl Rove, Bush turned the Justice Department into a group of administration "hit men". They put their loyalty to George Bush ahead of the Constitution and the rule of law. Career attorneys were fired and Bush loyalists were hired, and no one cared how many laws had to be broken or rules had to be bent to get the convictions they wanted.

By the Fall of 2008, it had gotten so bad they were even turning on their own. Once they targeted Stevens they hid evidence from the defense attorneys and who knows what else. It was a matter of getting a conviction at any cost.

When Eric Holder (pictured above) took over as Attorney General, he looked at the Stevens case and at the department Bush had left him, and he realized it stank to high heaven. He knew something had to be done, so he issued the order to drop the charges against Stevens.

Holder said, "I have determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial." He went on to say that from now on the Justice Department would insure ALL cases would be "handled fairly and consistent with its commitment to justice."

Stevens' attorney called Holder "a pillar of integrity". I believe he's right. Holder's action doesn't just give Stevens a bit of justice -- it sends a message to the entire Justice Department. A message that says the Constitution and rule of law are once again supreme, and all defendants will be treated fairly -- even those from another political party (or religion, race, sex, etc.).

Now that the dark years of the Bush administration are over, we can once again be proud of our Justice Department. It looks like President Obama chose the right man in Eric Holder.