The case against Brandon Mayfield has been voided. (Previous posts). This is great news. More encouraging is what the fall-out of the case might be.
First, I think it does wonders for increasing faith in the judicial system. It would have been better if the mistake had not been made in the first place, but the fact that legal system corrected the mistake relatively quickly is encouraging.
Second, the PD for Mayfield believes part of the reason for the accusation was that Mayfield is Muslim. “Steven Wax, the public defender who represented Mayfield, said an FBI computer likely returned a number of possible fingerprint matches, and that his client could have been singled out for investigation and subsequent arrest because he is Muslim. “It’s a major civil rights issue,” he said.” I don’t believe that there is a formal witch-hunt going on against Muslims, but there is an undeniable bias at the individual level, and hopefully such a public failure of a case will encourage law enforcement agents to be more careful. It’s a necessary corrective now that their methods are coming into the light. Several years of secrecy have prohibited the justice system, at all levels, from operating as it should.
Lastly, and related, is the potential for a lawsuit against the “sneak and peek” provisions of the PATRIOT Act. We shouldn’t have to wait until 2005 for the laws to expire, nor should we have to live with the fear that it might be extended. Many of the provisions of the act are unconstitutional in my opinion, and chipping away at bit-by-bit probably makes more sense then a legislative solution.
Time to chip in again. First, I’m pleased that the case against Brandon Mayfield has been dismissed if there is no evidence to support it. Second, I wish Brandon would now shut up and go back to the obscurity from which he came. People that complain that their life has been ruined by publicity should take a hint and stop bleating to every media outlet that will listen. Shedding his image as suspect, and donning a new one as Muslim Victim is no way to put his life back together. Perhaps he has a new career as poster victim. Just my opinion.
Third, the PD can believe whatever he likes. And he certainly likes the publicity. It’s easy to claim that Mayfield was “singled out” because he is Muslim. But what is the truth to that claim? To paraphrase Bill Clinton’s campaign slogan, “It’s the Muslims, stupid.”
Is the fact that Mayfield is a Muslim relevant to a determination whether he might have been involved in the Madrid bombing? Yes, as one part of the puzzle. Presbyterians didn’t bomb those trains, Muslims did. So it’s utterly ridiculous to be defensive about considering the fact that a suspect for this type of crime is Muslim — although not sufficient by itself for suspicion — is a factor in deciding whether it is plausible that the person was involved. So if the PD thinks that the ONLY reason Mayfield was charged is because he is Muslim, then perhaps the PD can complain. On the other hand, if the PD thinks the fact that Mayfield is Muslim has no relevance at all in this case, then the PD is terribly mistaken. We so fear invidious discrimination that we forget to make relevant distinctions.
I’ll reconsider this last point as soon as we find a Catholic carrying a dirty bomb for al-Qaeda. Until then, I’m not succumbing to political correctness and pretend that being Muslim isn’t part of the description of the people that aim to do us harm. The challenge is to find those few but deadly criminals among the millions of innocent people who are also Muslim, among other things.
Finally, let me put in a word in support of the Patriot Act amendments which removed unnessary barriers to criminal investigation. The dismally named “sneak and peak” warrant is nothing more than a delay in notification of a search. That was the law even before the Amendments — prosecutors could request that a court delay notification of a search if notification would jeopardize the investigation.
Furthermore, there’s been quite a hulabaloo about search warrants on libraries. However, even the ACLU (pre-9/11, I was a member of the ACLU, on their board of governors for a local affiliate, and even handled cases for them) has been unable to identify a single library that has been asked for information. It’s a ruse, and again, there was nothing about libraries that inoculated them from search warrants even before the Patriot Act.
I plan to vote for John Kerry because I didn’t vote for George Bush even the first time. I think Bush’s disastrous Iraqi adventure was never in the best interests of the US and is the primary reason to turn the Republicans out of office. However, I cringe when Kerry appears to be a prisoner of the Left, and especially when he criticizes the Patriot Act.
Time to chip in again. First, I’m pleased that the case against Brandon Mayfield has been dismissed if there is no evidence to support it. Second, I wish Brandon would now shut up and go back to the obscurity from which he came. People that complain that their life has been ruined by publicity should take a hint and stop bleating to every media outlet that will listen. Shedding his image as suspect, and donning a new one as Muslim Victim is no way to put his life back together. Perhaps he has a new career as poster victim. Just my opinion.
Third, the PD can believe whatever he likes. And he certainly likes the publicity. It’s easy to claim that Mayfield was “singled out” because he is Muslim. But what is the truth to that claim? To paraphrase Bill Clinton’s campaign slogan, “It’s the Muslims, stupid.”
Is the fact that Mayfield is a Muslim relevant to a determination whether he might have been involved in the Madrid bombing? Yes, as one part of the puzzle. Presbyterians didn’t bomb those trains, Muslims did. So it’s utterly ridiculous to be defensive about considering the fact that a suspect for this type of crime is Muslim — although not sufficient by itself for suspicion — is a factor in deciding whether it is plausible that the person was involved. So if the PD thinks that the ONLY reason Mayfield was charged is because he is Muslim, then perhaps the PD can complain. On the other hand, if the PD thinks the fact that Mayfield is Muslim has no relevance at all in this case, then the PD is terribly mistaken. We so fear invidious discrimination that we forget to make relevant distinctions.
I’ll reconsider this last point as soon as we find a Catholic carrying a dirty bomb for al-Qaeda. Until then, I’m not succumbing to political correctness and pretend that being Muslim isn’t part of the description of the people that aim to do us harm. The challenge is to find those few but deadly criminals among the millions of innocent people who are also Muslim, among other things.
Finally, let me put in a word in support of the Patriot Act amendments which removed unnessary barriers to criminal investigation. The dismally named “sneak and peak” warrant is nothing more than a delay in notification of a search. That was the law even before the Amendments — prosecutors could request that a court delay notification of a search if notification would jeopardize the investigation.
Furthermore, there’s been quite a hulabaloo about search warrants on libraries. However, even the ACLU (pre-9/11, I was a member of the ACLU, on their board of governors for a local affiliate, and even handled cases for them) has been unable to identify a single library that has been asked for information. It’s a ruse, and again, there was nothing about libraries that inoculated them from search warrants even before the Patriot Act.
I plan to vote for John Kerry because I didn’t vote for George Bush even the first time. I think Bush’s disastrous Iraqi adventure was never in the best interests of the US and is the primary reason to turn the Republicans out of office. However, I cringe when Kerry appears to be a prisoner of the Left, and especially when he criticizes the Patriot Act.