William Jefferson Update
By David Fialkov -- Intern
Posted on Wed May 30, 2007 at 04:04:07 PM EST
In case you're wondering why you haven't heard much about the bribery controversy surrounding Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) lately, it's because the government is not yet sure whether it can use evidence obtained in a controversial raid of the Louisianna Democrat's office on Capitol Hill.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that until the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals determines whether or not the search of the Congressman's office was constitutional, the FBI will hold off on filing charges against Jefferson. If the court finds that the raid was unconstitutional, evidence obtained in the raid is inadmissible in court, and Jefferson has a much greater chance of leaving this fiasco (legally) unscathed; if the court finds that the raid was legal, Jefferson could spend time behind bars.
This presents a bit of a catch-22 for many legal and political observers: On the one hand, members of Congress who accept bribes or use their office for improper means--as it appears William Jefferson has--should pay the consequences. On the other hand, some argue that to allow evidence obtained in FBI raids of congressional offices to be admissible in court would strike a blow to the doctrine of separation of powers in favor of a more powerful executive branch. Although we all want individual politicians to be held accountable for their actions, now more than ever it's imperative that the executive branch does not gain even more power, especially at the expense of the branch charged with making sure that power is not abused.
Tags: William Jefferson, Corruption, Ethics in Government (all tags)
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