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190 pages

English

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In a searing political memoir, former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman explodes the myth of an impartial U.S. justice system. He should know. Arguably the most successful and promising politician in modern Alabama history, his three-decade career in public service ran afoul of Republican opponents who used the federal judicial system to take him out of contention in Alabama and nationally. Siegelman ultimately was sentenced to 88 months in federal prison and served five years, with long stretches in solitary confinement during which he was a literal political prisoner, cut off from interviews and outside contact. Stealing Our Democracy reveals how Siegelmans enemies including politicized prosecutors and a corrupt judge stripped him of his freedom, his career, and his law license, and deprived him of his family and friends. His is an intensely personal account of how our system can fail and be abused for political greed. And if it could happen to him, he writes, it can happen to any of us, particularly in an era when Donald Trump is abusing his power and using the Department of Justice as a political weapon to defend himself and to destroy those who oppose him. Siegelman draws on his experience as a public servant and an inmate to show why the nations prisons must be reformed along with our system of indictment, prosecution, and sentencing. Finally, Stealing Our Democracy offers a blueprint for voters in 2020 of what must be done to preserve democracy.

Sujets

États-Unis

Political corruption

Local government law

USA

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Publié par	University of Georgia Press
Date de parution	30 juin 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781588384300
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	8 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0648€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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PRAISE FOR STEALING OUR DEMOCRACY
Stealing Our Democracy is every bit as compelling as Kafka s The Trial. The governor s book reveals how the Department of Justice, used as a political weapon, is threatening America s democracy. Siegelman s story is astonishing, compelling, and infuriating. - T HOM H ARTMANN , America s #1 progressive talk show host and New York Times bestselling author
Don Siegelman was the most successful Democratic politician in post-Wallace Alabama. His new book tells an amazing odyssey involving two federal prosecutions and a conviction forced by a corrupt judge. Following explosive disclosures of political manipulation by Republican whistleblowers, the constant that links many strands of the governor s political assassination is Karl Rove. - S COTT H ORTON , contributing editor, Harper s Magazine
Don Siegelman s story is nothing less than an American tragedy. Stealing Our Democracy should remind us all of what can happen when federal prosecutors powers are used to target not conduct but people, when the criminal sanction becomes a substitute for the ballot box, and when ambiguities in the law are exploited to damage a reputation and destroy a life. Siegelman s description of the Kafkaesque nightmare that enveloped him and his family should cause both heartbreak and outrage. Understanding the abuses he experienced may well be the first step to ending them and to healing our broken politics. - J OHN J. F ARMER J R ., former New Jersey attorney general, former dean of Rutgers Law School, currently law professor and director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers
If you doubt that politics are the mortal enemy of justice, read Stealing Our Democracy. Terrible things happen when prosecutors forget that they are duty-bound to prosecute cases based solely on evidence and the law. Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman s book is a sobering reminder of the vast powers the federal government has wrongfully used as a sledgehammer to achieve a conviction at any cost. - D AVID C. I GLESIAS (R), former U.S. Attorney, District of New Mexico
Stealing Our Democracy shows the abuse of political power by Republicans began well before Donald Trump. As a popular Democratic Governor of Alabama, Don Siegelman posed a potent threat to the GOP s Southern Strategy because Siegelman was a man the Republicans couldn t defeat in an honest election. Karl Rove s fingerprints are everywhere on the sleazy machinations that transformed a rising star in the Democratic Party-seemingly destined for the national stage-into a political prisoner whose biggest crime was winning elections in a red state. - C RAIG U NGER , investigative journalist, author of Boss Rove and House of Trump, House of Putin
Reading Stealing Our Democracy will make you cry-and then cry out for integrity in our justice system. Governor Siegelman was a victim of blatant abuse of power and the greed for power by rogue Republicans with ties to Karl Rove and the Bush White House. This book is a call to action. - A NDREW K REIG , author, attorney, and director of the Justice Integrity Project
Every law enforcement professional should be alarmed by the political assassination of Governor Don Siegelman told in this story. And every American who believes in democracy should read his book. - P ETER B ULLARD , law enforcement consultant, police academy instructor
Don Siegelman stared the devil in the eye and survived. Relentlessly pursued by Karl Rove and his operatives, the former Democratic governor of Alabama paid a steep price but demonstrated a strength of character that makes the malevolent forces look weak. Now, in his own words, Siegelman tells how the saga unfolded, leading him through trials and disappointments and finally to prison. Stealing Our Democracy is a must read for anyone who cares about our democracy. - J OSEPHINE E. A YERS , chairman and publisher, The Anniston Star
Of the thousands of prosecutorial misconduct cases I have lectured on and written about, the government s bad faith described in Stealing Our Democracy stands out starkly and may be without parallel. - B ENNETT L. G ERSHMAN , Pace University School of Law, author of Prosecution Stories
S TEALING O UR D EMOCRACY
STEALING OUR DEMOCRACY
How the Political Assassination of a Governor Threatens Our Nation
DON SIEGELMAN
FOREWORD BY J OHN J . F ARMER J R.
N EW S OUTH B OOKS
Montgomery
NewSouth Books
105 S. Court Street
Montgomery, AL 36104
2020 by Don Siegelman
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
Published in the United States by NewSouth Books, Montgomery, Alabama.
Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs were provided by and are used with permission of Don Siegelman.
Publisher s Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Siegelman, Don, author. Title: Stealing our democracy: how the political assassination of a governor threatens our nation / Don Siegelman.
Description: Montgomery : NewSouth Books, 2020.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020933134 (print) | ISBN 9781588384294 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781588384300 (ebook)
Subjects: Siegelman, Don, 1946- . | Governors-Alabama-Biography. | Prisoners-United States-Biography. | False Imprisonment-United States. I. Title.
Printed in the United States of America by Sheridan Books.
To the proposition that America s thirst for democracy will win out in the end. To all who remain hopeful while facing overwhelming odds. To all working for a positive change and spending themselves in a worthy cause-the Greta Thunbergs, the Malala Yousafzais, the Bryan Stevensons of the world. To all seeking freedom, working for justice, and democracy. Especially to my family and to other families who have been victims of crime or have been or will be wrongfully convicted and sentenced, some to prison, others to death.
Don is engaged in two important fights: One, for his own freedom and, the other, to save our democracy. As Americans, we have a responsibility to protect our democracy from those who would take advantage of it and abuse their power.
- F ORMER V ICE P RESIDENT A L G ORE , IN A 2008 LETTER TO SUPPORTERS
Don Siegelman, Alabama s first progressive governor, was elected with a majority of black and white voters. He advanced the cause of justice for African Americans and women, appointing more African Americans as judges than had been elected or appointed in Alabama s history. This drove Republicans crazy. The coup de grace was that Governor Siegelman was going to give free college education and free early learning to all Alabama children.
- C ONGRESSMAN J OHN L EWIS

Pressing for the Education Lottery, October 1999.
CONTENTS
Foreword
Prologue
Acknowledgments
1 Judgment Day
2 Locked Away
3 Early Years, Values Learned
4 Public School Education
5 College, A Political Education
6 Working for Peace
7 Back to Bama
8 Shaking Things up as Secretary of State
9 A Life-Changing Tragedy
10 Baby Girl Sets Priorities
11 Using Power for Public Good
12 A Race to the Top
13 Close Encounters with Rove and Canary
14 Beating Rove, Canary, and Abramoff
15 Clinton, George W. Bush, and Al Gore
16 My Inauguration and GOP Consternation
17 Taking on Another Fight
18 A Bribe or Political Contribution?
19 Christian Coalition Takes Casino Cash
20 Making Changes
21 A Motorcycle Morphs into Crime
22 Terrorists Attack America
23 Rove s Forces Friends Plan Attack
24 Dodging an NRA Bullet
25 Rove Pulls Out His Big Gun
26 Rove s Fingerprints on Stolen Election
27 Jeff Sessions Rewards Ballot Thief
28 Rove and Pryor at the Bush White House
29 Rove Republicans Suck Wind
30 It Begins! A Political Prosecution
31 The First Indictment
32 Prosecutors Misconduct
33 Back to Campaigning
34 A Scramble for a Second Indictment
35 A Vengeful Judge with a Grudge
36 The Tortuous Trial
37 The Judge Closes in on Us
38 Pressure to Withdraw from the Race
39 Witness Lies
40 Sessions and Pryor Accused of Crimes
41 Judge Instructs Jury for Conviction
42 Judge Roy Moore
43 The Judge and Jury s Verdict
44 Congress to the Rescue
45 Juror Misconduct Exposed
46 More Juror Misconduct
47 First Republican Whistleblower
48 Preparing to Be Sentenced
49 My Sentencing Circus
50 Prison, a Political Gag Order
51 Judge Fuller s Conflicts Exposed
52 Working for Freedom
53 Prison Life in Louisiana
54 Waiting in Prison
55 National Media and Congress
56 CBS 60 Minutes Moves Mountains
57 Going Home
58 Meeting My Warriors
59 DOJ s One-Sided Investigation
60 Rove Prosecutors Attack Doyle
61 Barack Hussein Obama Elected
62 Legal Appeal Begins
63 The Judge Gets His Pound of Flesh
64 Thirty Days of Freedom to Fight
65 A Hail Mary Pardon Pass
66 Back to Prison
67 Prison . . . Again
68 From Solitary Confinement to Camp
69 White House Counsel as My Advocate
70 Inmate Stories
71 Prison Guard Cruelty, Saving Leroy
72 Saving Inmate Garcia
73 Government Witness Confesses Lies
74 My Judge s Sex, Drugs, Domestic Violence
75 Greg Craig s Quest for Justice
76 My Prison Administrative Assistant
77 Warning Senators Menendez Shelby
78 Congress Talks of Justice Reform
79 Freedom of Speech Suspended
80 Trump: Southern White Boy s Candidate
81 My End Date Approaches
82 Going Home
83 In Search of Justice
Epilogue
Notes
Legal Notes
Index
FOREWORD
B Y J OHN J. F ARMER J R .
I became aware of the prosecution of Don Siegelman when I, and over one hundred other former state attorneys general of both parties (I am an independent), signed an amicus brief challenging the application to Don of the federal bribery statute. As a former federal prosecutor, state attorney general of New Jersey, and criminal defense attorney, I was well aware of the potential breadth of the theft of honest services statute, and had worried about its potential for partisan abuse.
Don s case confirmed my worst fears.
Don was sentence