Cheney & Gonzales charged over jail 'abuses'

Cheney & Gonzales charged over jail 'abuses'

news.bbc.co.uk

A Texas grand jury has charged US Vice-President Dick Cheney for "organised criminal activity" related to alleged abuse of private prison inmates.

The indictment says Mr Cheney - who has invested $85m (£56m) in a company that holds shares in for-profit prisons - conspired to block an investigation.

The indictment has not been seen by a judge, who could dismiss it.

Mr Cheney's spokeswoman declined to comment, saying his office had not yet received a copy of the charges.

One Texas lawyer said the charges were politically motivated.

The indictment was overseen by county District Attorney Juan Guerra, an outgoing prosecutor at the end of his term of office.

He cites the case of Gregorio De La Rosa, who died on 26 April 26, 2001 inside a private prison in Willacy County, Texas.

The grand jury in Willacy County, near the US-Mexico border, accuses Mr Cheney of committing "at least misdemeanour assaults" of inmates by allowing other inmates to assault them.

It said there was a "direct conflict of interest" because Mr Cheney had influence over federal contracts awarded to prison companies.

US grand juries weigh evidence to decide whether a case is worthy of being sent for a full trial, before issuing formal charges known as indictments.

The three-page indictment also alleges that former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "used his position...to stop the investigations as to the wrong doings."

(visit the link for the full news article)


[edit on 19-11-2008 by grover]

First off privatization is a scam and has always been a scam for a wide variety of reasons.

Second... there are certain governmental functions that should never be privatized... punishment is one of them. People, companies and corporations should not profit from one of the key functions of government. If society is going to punish then society should do it... not some for profit group. The notion of private prisons is deeply offensive to me.

Third... I have little doubt that the allegations in the inditement are true... with the history of secrecy and meddling with law enforcement that cheney the dick and bush minor have... it is not much of a stretch... not much of one at all... they have subverted so many things in this nation we may never know the extent of their corruption.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)


[edit on 19-11-2008 by grover]

In a related story:

www.mcclatchydc.com...

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has agreed to pay for a private lawyer to defend former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales against allegations that he encouraged officials to inject partisan politics into the department's hiring and firing practices.

Lawyers from the Justice Department's civil division often represent department employees who're sued in connection with their official actions. However, Gonzales' attorney recently revealed in court papers that the Justice Department had approved his request to pay private attorney's fees arising from the federal lawsuit.

Now I don't know much about legal stuff per say... but why should we foot the bill to defend him if wrong doing has been done?