Roylat.com » Impunity http://roylat.com Commentary on a Mixed Up and Sometimes Backward World Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:03:28 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc Impunity Alive and Well in the US http://roylat.com/2009/06/impunity-alive-and-well-in-the-us/ http://roylat.com/2009/06/impunity-alive-and-well-in-the-us/#comments Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:07:14 +0000 roylat http://roylat.com/2009/06/impunity-alive-and-well-in-the-us/ When I spend time in Latin American countries, I read the newspapers to help my Spanish. A recurring theme in those countries with the most corruption and least effective governance is the impunity of those most responsible. They can carry out any crime, including murder, and if they are ever prosecuted (which is seldom), the courts at some level will always set them free. This impunity is a central aspect of the Gordian Knot that prevents such countries from reform that would allow them to start serving the people instead of the rich and powerful.

I had always thought that this was a problem of the Third World – until the Bush administration flaunted the law with no consequence whatsoever. The Plame scandal, where the identification of a CIA undercover agent was made public by the administration in retribution, was a classic example of how the administration operated above the law. The final chapter has apparently now been written, with the Supreme Court confirming the ability of the President and Vice President to operate above the law. Thanks to Rita Crane for the following.

Court Will Not Revive Plame Lawsuit Against Cheney, Libby, Armitage


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/22/court-will-not-revive-pla_n_218919.html

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court will not revive a lawsuit that former CIA operative Valerie Plame brought against former members of the Bush administration.

The court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

A lower court last year threw out the lawsuit in which Plame and Wilson accused former Vice President Dick Cheney and several former high-ranking administration officials of revealing her identity to reporters in 2003. Plame and Wilson said that violated their constitutional rights.

The lawsuit named former presidential adviser Karl Rove; Cheney’s former top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby; and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said that Plame and Wilson did not meet the legal standard for constitutional claims, in part because the lawsuit hinges on alleged violations of the Privacy Act _ a law that does not cover the president or the vice president’s offices.

Armitage was the original source for a 2003 newspaper column identifying Plame as a CIA officer. At the time, her husband was criticizing the Bush administration’s prewar intelligence on Iraq and had become a thorn in the side of the White House. Rove also discussed Plame’s employment with reporters.

The leak touched off a lengthy investigation that resulted in Libby’s conviction for obstruction and lying to investigators. Jurors found that he told reporters about Plame and lied about it to the FBI and a federal grand jury. President George W. Bush commuted Libby’s sentence before he ever served a day in prison.

Nobody was ever charged with the leak itself and Plame’s lawsuit is one of the last remaining legal issues associated with the case.

The case is Wilson v. Libby, 08-1043.

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