The 'Nifonging' of the American Public

Charlotte, NC (TLS). The infamous case of Prosecutor Mike Nifong, who has been charged by the North Carolina Bar with prosecutorial misconduct, lying to the court, and ethics violations, has become a metaphor for the aggressive prosecution of the innocent by state's attorneys with ulterior motives.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald charged Scooter Libby with a crime he did not commit, the basis of which was not even a crime at all. Instead of going after the real source of the leak, Mr. Richard Armitage, Fitzgerald chose instead to railroad Scooter Libby into facing charges of a crime which is not really a crime--which is why Armitage was not charged in the first place...meaning, of course, that the entire trial was a sham from start to finish--a political set-up job by a rogue Special Prosecutor with an ax to grind with Vice President Dick Cheney over the War in Iraq.

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of El Paso, Texas has relentlessly and mercilessly targeted law enforcement officials in the state of Texas who have jurisdiction over the counties and municipalities near or at the southern border. Not only that but he has exhibited a penchant for punishing conscientious Border Patrol agents who are doing their best to uphold federal law by protecting our borders against illegal aliens.

Despite the clear wording of the United States Code, which states that the aiding and abetting of illegal aliens is a felony, Sutton has proceeded to aid and abet the aliens by prosecuting the law enforcement officials who apprehend them.

In case after case, various news organizations such as CNS News Service and WorldNetDaily have documented a paper trail of blatant prosecutorial misconduct on the part of Johnny Sutton in going after innocent men who attempt to guard our borders and uphold FEDERAL law.

Yet so far not a single move has been made to investigate Sutton or remove him from these cases, in spite of desperate pleas by Republican Congressmen who are familiar with Sutton and his misdeeds.

Regardless of what ANYONE says in Sutton's defense, the message he is sending to Mexico and to American citizens is that there are two sets of laws that govern this nation--one for illegal aliens, and one for the rest of us. And if one of the 'rest of us' dares to enforce the laws of the United States Code in apprehending illegal aliens at the border, that person will have hell to pay in a court of law, including a lengthy term of imprisonment.

Thus, Sutton is making it clear that when it comes to illegal aliens, the law be damned.

And the message that Mexico hears is, 'Gee, we can rape and plunder America all we want. We don't have to worry about immigration laws. We have Sutton at the border to protect us!'

Despite all of this accumulation of graft, President George W. Bush still stubbornly refuses to issue pardons to Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean. And his crony Johnny Sutton is still sitting at the Border waiting for an honorable law enforcement official to do his job...so that he can haul his sorry butt to court.

It is Sutton's sorry butt that needs to be rotting in prison rather than Ramos and Compean. The man is committing felonies right and left by aiding and abetting illegal aliens.

And then we come to South Carolina, where Allenna Williams Ward awaits her court hearing on April 2, under charges of engaging in criminal sexual conduct with under-age teenage boys. The state's attorney in the case, Jerry Peace, sorely needs to score a victory on a teacher sex scandal case. Two previous situations went nowhere in a hurry, and those who pressure state's attorneys, in addition to the self-pressure of prosecutors, on the basis of 'wins' rather than true justice being done seem to believe that Ward is an easy target to make a point.

Peace's behavior in this case has been suspect for many various reasons, not the least of which is that he did not adhere to his usual practice of pleading out cases such as this when he feels his case is solid. From what The Liberty Sphere can tell so far, in carefully researching the details, the charges, the logistics, etc., Allenna Williams Ward is a naive, sheltered young woman who may have engaged in some boundary violations with the teenagers. But boundary violations do not equal criminal sexual behavior. Lack of maturity and wisdom in what would normally be called harmless behavior is NOT child molestation or rape.

Although the teachers of the Bell Street Elementary School are under a gag order concerning Ward, it is clear that when they speak in general terms about the case there is a state of disbelief that Ward would engage in the activities the charges indicate.

In fact, not a single shred of supporting evidence in terms of Ward's character, behavior, reputation, demeanor, or deportment in the least bit suggests any tendencies toward the acts with which she is charged.

So far, the only evidence against her is the word of a few 14-15 year old boys.

Even the attorney representing three of the boys cannot produce any physical evidence proving that a text message was sent by Ward to his client telling him to 'keep his mouth shut,'
neither does the state's attorney possess any proof that such a text message exists.

In addition, the so-called cell-phone picture, the supposed 'smoking gun,' is so far nothing more than hearsay perpetrated by those with a vested interest in covering their tracks, since NOBODY--not the prosecutor, not law enforcement, and not the attorney representing the boys--possesses such a photo. In fact, the rumor of a cell-phone photo has the smell of an after-thought--a means to shore up what is beginning to look like a sham of a story, a made-up tale by teenagers gone bad.

So far, neither the infamous text message nor the infamous photo have been produced. Thus, we can only assume they do not exist.

Unless someone can produce the proof that Ward sent that message, and that the message referred specifically to the crimes she is accused of committing, and unless someone can place Ward at the motel in question, or in any of the other public places where the supposed encounters took place, then it would appear that Peace has no case. And if it turns out that the boys lied about the existence of a cell phone photo, then it will be clear that these wayward teenagers made a mockery of the United States Judicial System.

Thus, Ward would be yet another innocent citizen to be 'nifonged.'

The sad and frightening scenario that is developing in the wake of all of these miscarriages of justice is that the entire criminal justice system in America is under siege by dishonest individuals who do not care in the least that the law is upheld or that justice is done, but only that they get to add another 'notch to their belt,' or that they can accomplish a subversive agenda, such as the deliberate violation of the nation's immigration laws.

If the persons who hold the title of District Attorney, or State's Attorney, or U.S. Attorney, or Special Prosecutor, are not basically honest persons of integrity, then no one in America is safe from having their reputations ruined and their good names dragged through the mud. A dishonest person with that kind of power is not only a scourge to the nation but a dangerous cancer growing on the legal system.

How many innocent persons sit rotting in jail because of these deceptive thugs?

Unless these individuals are rooted out of their positions of power, then the entire judicial system of the United States of America is suspect. The system of a free Constitutional Republic depends upon the integrity of the men and women who hold its offices. If these individuals cannot be trusted, then the entire system fails.

I have just named four individuals within the system who either cannot be trusted outright, or who are at least under some suspicion.

The question is, do these high-profile individuals represent the state of the system as a whole, or are they exceptions to the rule? The more that cases like this dominate the news, and the longer we as a society allow the dishonest to get away with it, the more it appears that their lack of integrity is the norm. We are witnessing the nifonging of the American public.

President George W. Bush could do the entire nation a favor by setting a good example for others among the various states to follow. He could remove Sutton from office and investigate him for prosecutorial misconduct, lying to the court, and for violating the code of ethics. He could pardon the accused law enforcement officials who have suffered under the heavy-handedness of Sutton's oppression.

If the President sets such an example, this could well be the signal that dishonesty in prosecuting cases will not be tolerated anywhere within the United States of America.

Such a Presidential move is long overdue.