After the hearing
Well, it may be that there will never be a trial. Who knows. It does look like Susan's fears of being taken away again to Carswell have been ended. My own suspicion is that the prosecution, or others in the Justice Department, have awakened to their being used for the purposes of others, and decided that her case really is not as serious as they first thought.
Judge Mukasey pretty much pointed that out in his decision.
There were others who were doing very similar things to which Susan was accused of, as has been pointed out in recent news blogged below, so I can't blame government folks thinking this was more of the same, at first blush, and not wanting an offender to slip through the cracks on a technicality. Even Susan agrees that most of the people in the government want to think of themselves as good people when they go home at the end of the day. Don't get her started on Carswell, though.
Susan says that on her way into New York City for the hearing, last Friday, that she was listening to the radio and heard a familiar voice calling into a radio station, saying that he was a retired federal judge who had enjoyed the station and saying, "...I appreciate your commitment to freedom of speech." She thought it was a bit serendipitous.
Judge Mukasey pretty much pointed that out in his decision.
There were others who were doing very similar things to which Susan was accused of, as has been pointed out in recent news blogged below, so I can't blame government folks thinking this was more of the same, at first blush, and not wanting an offender to slip through the cracks on a technicality. Even Susan agrees that most of the people in the government want to think of themselves as good people when they go home at the end of the day. Don't get her started on Carswell, though.
Susan says that on her way into New York City for the hearing, last Friday, that she was listening to the radio and heard a familiar voice calling into a radio station, saying that he was a retired federal judge who had enjoyed the station and saying, "...I appreciate your commitment to freedom of speech." She thought it was a bit serendipitous.
posted by JB | 5:14 PM
4 Comments:
I'm trying to understand -- is the government in fact dropping the case? What did lawyers say was the concrete result of the hearing? If any.
No clue. All guesses are good ones.
I live in Takoma Park, and I am very sympathetic to Susan's plight. She is accused of a purely political crime. For those who would call her a 'traitor', and call me one as well because I sympathize with her--what is a traitor, anyway? The word is used by the ruling power to categorize someone who tries to undermine its authority, whatever that authority stands for. Our freedom fighters in the American Revolution were traitors in the eyes of the British, but heroes to the people of the newly born United States. A traitor against an 'evil' power is a hero. Too many Americans believe that whatever their country does, it is always right. That myth needs to be debunked. The sanctions against Iraq hurt the Iraqi people much more than Saddam Hussein, and the ensuing war was unjustified, morally wrong and has become a colossal disaster. Susan's attempts to undermine US policy in Iraq make her a hero in my book.
Her mental illness makes this an even more compelling story. In my opinion, forcibly medicating any person is unethical. Doing so for the purpose of making a person 'competent to stand trial', thereby rendering meaningless the concept of diminished responsibility, is utterly despicable. Once the government has obtained its conviction, it will lose all interest in treating the defendant's mental illness. Antipsychotic drugs have many serious side effects, including tardive dyskinesia (Parkinson-like symptoms) that can be IRREVERSIBLE. These drugs can help many people, but they must never be used as a blunt instrument of the law!
I live only a few blocks from Susan. I wish her the very best, and it would be an honor to meet her. To those fed agents out there who are tempted to come after me for admiring Susan Lindauer, I dare you to come get me. You'll be sorry.
I only know what Susan told me, and she was pretty cryptic. She is, under the orders of the judge, seeing a psychiatrist on Fenton Street, near where she lives. This psychiatrist does not believe in using drugs if it can be helped.
There are other bits of the trial, but I do not want to let the cat out of the bag. Susan wants to write a book about it, although admits that she might wait five years before publishing it.
The hero, for me, has been our court system. In a way, it is amazing that we have a judge, and a conservative judge, who had the presence of mind and the courage to see through the fear and doubt of the government charges.
I find myself wondering how America will redeem itself in the eyes of the rest of the world, but I am grateful for the signs I frequently see that tell me we are a country still capable of greatness and glory and capable of redeeming ourselves from our errors.
It is good to hear from others in Takoma Park. Susan and I have often wondered where our neighbors were when she needed their support. She thinks they were doing more than we realized. It seemed to me that the Takoma Park listserver was censoring out my posts with her updates. So much for the virtues of the liberal community.
One lesson I take away from this is that virtue would not be worth anything if it were easy.
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