Questions from the floor at a Scott Horton
lecture on the Alabama Press
University of Alabama at Huntsville
Questioner: I have been really alarmed, not only at the legal
procedures followed by the U.S. Attorneys in Alabama, I have been
alarmed by their procedures picking people up and taking them to
jail, at their procedures in Sue Schmitz here in town who was rousted
out of her shower at 6 in the morning
Horton: And Mr. Latifi and his wife gave me a very graphic
description of what happened in their house, too. Which I have to say
matches things I heard about and things I experienced in the Soviet
Union when I was working as a lawyer there.
Questioner: ... For instance Sue Schmitz she was ready to turn
herself in. And to use FBI brutality to take her to the jail in her
nightgown is really kind of overdoing it -- it reminds me of a police
state.
Horton: It's a psychological tactic that is used around the world -- I
hate to say this but it's used in police states around the world to
shock and shake up targets and to get them to speak and stop
defending. And it involves going in and effecting arrest in the hours
before dawn, using heavy force, brandishing weapons -- with people
who are perfectly willing to just turn themselves in? Excuse me.
That's ridiculous! A prosecutor who does something like this
deserves to have the spotlight focused on her. And this has been
going on. It's been going on in Montgomery and Birmingham.
.............................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................
ALABAMA PRESS:
Two State Journals featured the Siegelman prosecution, early and often:
The Birmingham News
The Birmingham News did not “report on” the vendetta against Governor
Siegelman. Rather, it was a principal vehicle of the vendetta....
<more>
.............................................................................................................
The Mobile Press Register
The Press Register is credited with breaking the story of Siegelman's corruption
when writer, Eddie Curran and others, began to write articles that hammered
Siegelman at every turn.
<more under journalist: Eddie Curran>
.........................................................................
Journalists: Two journalists who have taken an interest in the Siegelman case
counter point each other's points of view. Each has different professional and
journalistic standards. One is credited with instigating the Siegelman case, the
other with encouraging a second look at the Siegelman case and the political
system that produced it.
..............................................................................................................
Scott Horton
Scott Horton is a New York attorney known for his work in emerging markets and
international law, especially human rights law and the law of armed conflict,
Horton lectures at Columbia Law School.
<more>
..............................................................................................................
Eddie Curran
In 2001, Mobile Press-Register reporter Eddie Curran began a series of
investigative stories focusing the Siegelman Governor's Office. The stories were
credited with resulting in a joint state and federal investigation that on June 29
resulted in guilty convictions against former Gov. Don Siegelman and ex-
HealthSouth Corp. Chairman Richard Scrushy.
<more>
lecture on the Alabama Press
University of Alabama at Huntsville
Questioner: I have been really alarmed, not only at the legal
procedures followed by the U.S. Attorneys in Alabama, I have been
alarmed by their procedures picking people up and taking them to
jail, at their procedures in Sue Schmitz here in town who was rousted
out of her shower at 6 in the morning
Horton: And Mr. Latifi and his wife gave me a very graphic
description of what happened in their house, too. Which I have to say
matches things I heard about and things I experienced in the Soviet
Union when I was working as a lawyer there.
Questioner: ... For instance Sue Schmitz she was ready to turn
herself in. And to use FBI brutality to take her to the jail in her
nightgown is really kind of overdoing it -- it reminds me of a police
state.
Horton: It's a psychological tactic that is used around the world -- I
hate to say this but it's used in police states around the world to
shock and shake up targets and to get them to speak and stop
defending. And it involves going in and effecting arrest in the hours
before dawn, using heavy force, brandishing weapons -- with people
who are perfectly willing to just turn themselves in? Excuse me.
That's ridiculous! A prosecutor who does something like this
deserves to have the spotlight focused on her. And this has been
going on. It's been going on in Montgomery and Birmingham.
.............................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................
ALABAMA PRESS:
Two State Journals featured the Siegelman prosecution, early and often:
The Birmingham News
The Birmingham News did not “report on” the vendetta against Governor
Siegelman. Rather, it was a principal vehicle of the vendetta....
<more>
.............................................................................................................
The Mobile Press Register
The Press Register is credited with breaking the story of Siegelman's corruption
when writer, Eddie Curran and others, began to write articles that hammered
Siegelman at every turn.
<more under journalist: Eddie Curran>
.........................................................................
Journalists: Two journalists who have taken an interest in the Siegelman case
counter point each other's points of view. Each has different professional and
journalistic standards. One is credited with instigating the Siegelman case, the
other with encouraging a second look at the Siegelman case and the political
system that produced it.
..............................................................................................................
Scott Horton
Scott Horton is a New York attorney known for his work in emerging markets and
international law, especially human rights law and the law of armed conflict,
Horton lectures at Columbia Law School.
<more>
..............................................................................................................
Eddie Curran
In 2001, Mobile Press-Register reporter Eddie Curran began a series of
investigative stories focusing the Siegelman Governor's Office. The stories were
credited with resulting in a joint state and federal investigation that on June 29
resulted in guilty convictions against former Gov. Don Siegelman and ex-
HealthSouth Corp. Chairman Richard Scrushy.
<more>
.........................................................................
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