The Resignation Thing

It’s a long story, how I tried to resign as an attorney and they wouldn’t let me, and how they’ve tried – and so far succeeded – in covering it all up.  Maybe it’s an important story, and not just for me.  But let me begin by quoting from the seminal US Supreme Court case (Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 US 409) holding that prosecutors are “absolutely immune” from lawsuits holding them liable for constitutional violations, and I ask the reader to keep this in mind as we run through the numbers here:

We emphasize that the immunity of prosecutors from liability in suits under § 1983 does not leave the public powerless to deter misconduct or to punish that which occurs. This Court has never suggested that the policy considerations which compel civil immunity for certain governmental officials also place them beyond the reach of the criminal law. Even judges, cloaked with absolute civil immunity for centuries, could be punished criminally for willful deprivations of constitutional rights on the strength of 18 U. S. C. § 242,^[28] the criminal analog of § 1983. O’Shea v. Littleton, 414 U. S. 488, 503 (1974); cf. Gravel v. United States, 408 U. S. 606, 627 (1972). The prosecutor would fare no better for his willful acts.^[29] Moreover, a prosecutor stands perhaps unique, among officials whose acts could deprive persons of constitutional rights, in his amenability to professional discipline by an association of his peers.^[30] These checks undermine the argument that the imposition of civil liability is the only way to insure that prosecutors are mindful of the constitutional rights of persons accused of crime.

Emphasis, as we say, supplied.

Lawyers, including District Attorneys (in theory) are subject to professional discipline.  In New York, that discipline is administered by the four Appellate Divisions, one of which – the Appellate Division, Fourth Department – is the very same court where all this Sephora Davis stuff was going on.  And the Appellate Divisions also over see attorney admissions to practice.  And they also receive attorney resignations and a panel of judges “rules” on attorney requests for resignation.

Troy Davis, Death And The Power Of Law Enforcement (Update)

One thing that will go unmentioned in all this is that one of Troy Davis’ maneuvers over the 20+ years it has been going on was to bring an “original” habeas corpus petition in the SCOTUS, and the SCOTUS didn’t just summarily deny it; they sent it to a District Court, which of course is located back in Georgia and is therefore not equipped to seriously consider evidence that is so adamantly and collectively opposed by the law enforcement establishment there.  It was the first time SCOTUS had done that in almost 50 years.  The last time they out and out granted an “original” habeas corpus petition was…1925.

I think this denial of relief by the Georgia Parole Board is the last thing here.  Unless there’s something else I don’t know about, Troy Davis will be executed tomorrow.  A lot of people fought long and hard to spare him, and in the end they lose.  This is the usual outcome.

I want to touch on just why this is the usual outcome, because it is one of the most important things about this and one of the least commented on.

You’ve got the two opposing camps:  there’s the camp that opposes executing Troy Davis and there’s the camp that favors it.  The latter camp has the unequivocal and unwavering collective support of law enforcement.  They have dug in their heels on this one and everyone knows it.

The we-don’t-want-Troy-Davis-killed-camp has done a very good job of raising all kinds of doubts about Troy Davis’ guilt.  I don’t think anyone disputes that at this point.  Scott Greenfield seems to believe that what drives all this is that there has been an official finding of guilt before, so the burden of proof has shifted, and raising doubts after the guilty verdict is not enough.

Neither one of these things has anything to do with it.