PJ Media has been covering the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division for years. This is the unit that will be investigating the shooting in Ferguson and deciding whether to charge the police officer with civil rights crimes.
PJ Media had to sue Eric Holder to obtain the resumes of the lawyers he hired to populate this unit. No wonder. The “Every Single One” series at PJ Media revealed that all of Holder’s attorney hires were leftists, some even with a history of anti-police activities. Read the detailed biographies of the lawyers here.
Why does it matter that the DOJ unit that will investigate the Ferguson police is stacked with leftists and ideologues? Because anti-police biases of lawyers in this unit have resulted in gross prosecutorial misconduct against police officers.
United States District Judge Kurt Engelhardt issued this blistering 129-page opinion documenting prosecutorial misconduct by DOJ lawyers seeking to convict New Orleans police officers of civil rights violations. These lawyers are still employed by the Criminal Section at the Civil Rights Division. Hans von Spakovsky has this summary of the rage directed at the DOJ from the bench.
Trying to figure out what the prosecutors had done sent the court “on a legal odyssey unlike any other.” But that legal odyssey led the judge on September 17 to grant a new trial to the New Orleans police officers.
It is the first time, according to Judge Engelhardt, that federal “prosecutors acting with anonymity used social media to circumvent ethical obligations, professional responsibilities, and even to commit violations of the Code of Federal Regulations.” The 129-page order, which details the misbehavior of the Louisiana DOJ lawyers and the Civil Rights Division’s Dobinski, is appalling reading. And it isn’t just that Dobinski was a high-level Justice Department lawyer who was posting anonymous blogs about the trial.
She also encouraged other anonymous bloggers, who “repeatedly posted vigorous pro-prosecution statements strongly condemning the defendants, their witnesses, and their entire defense.” To make matters worse, Dobinski was the supervising “taint” attorney assigned to the New Orleans case.
PJ Media covered Dobinski’s misconduct here, here and here. As Holder moves forward in Ferguson, keep the documented misconduct of his lawyers in mind.
Karla Dobinski
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