Federal Prosecutor overstepped
government counsel step over ethical lines.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-IL) has been a leader in seeking to enact thoughtful legislation that would restore balance to the government-versus-citizen equation. Despite the high regard with which he is held on both sides of the aisle, the Hyde Amendment was diluted through Justice Department lobbying so that in its current format that statute is now closely modeled on the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) (except that the burden of proof under the Hyde Amendment is now placed on the defendant to show that a prosecution was without justification). Both statutes impose a short -- 30-day -- time period after final judgment to seek reimbursement, cap the hourly rate of defense counsel, and exclude wealthier individuals and corporations from their purview.
There is now pending in the House of Representatives a very popular, bi-partisan bill that would make it plain that the government may not exempt its lawyers or other agents (e.g., Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigators) from these state bar and federal court rules of conduct. It would also subject charges of federal prosecutorial misconduct to independent oversight, rather than the Justice Department's own, self-policing office.
The bill, H.R. 3396, was introduced by the senior Republican in the House, Joseph M. McDade (R-PA), along with his Democrat colleague John Murtha (D-PA). Congressman McDade suffered his own eight-year ordeal of government investigation and trial on RICO charges before finally being (quickly) vindicated by a jury. The bill has, in just a few months, garnered over 160 co-sponsors, including key members of the House leadership and a dozen committee chairmen. This legislation is long overdue.
http://www.criminaljustice.org/CHAMPION/ARTICLES/98jul01.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment