I called Paul Minor's case to your attention last week as the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal was preparing to rule on his request for release on bail pending appeal. Minor's wife was near death. This via email from a friend of Paul Minor:
For those of you who have followed the saga of Paul Minor's story along with me, today is a very sad day. His wife Sylvia Minor passed away last evening. Paul never got the chance to say goodbye.
Things were looking up yesterday when we received confirmation that the Attorney General's office was working on the matter and would reply about the furlough for Paul by the end of today. Unfortunately, it's a day late.
The request to DOJ and the Bureau of Prisons will now be modified to ask that Paul be released on furlough to comfort his family and to attend Sylvia's funeral.
The fight for justice in Paul's case continues, but today let us remember Sylvia for her strength and courage battling cancer without her husband these past two-and-a-half years. She fought hard, but the deck was stacked against them, and her final wish to have Paul with her at the end fell short.
Pray for her, and for Paul as he sits in a prison cell with all of this on his mind.
Real people, real suffering. Very sad news, indeed.
Attorneys representing Paul Minor, the Mississippi attorney currently serving 11 years in federal prison on bribery charges trumped up by Karl Rove's confidantes in the Bush Justice Department, filed an emergency release motion with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday seeking his immediate release while the court deliberates his appeal. It is the last chance Minor will get to see his wife before her imminent death.
Minor's wife of 41 years, Sylvia, is dying of terminal brain cancer and her moments of clarity are dwindling. Her oncologist issued a statement over the weekend at the request of her family noting that Mrs. Minor's "demise is imminent.... Mrs. Minor requests the presence of her husband during this last part of her life... it is urgent that this occur immediately due to her rapidly deteriorating condition."
Sources close to the case have learned that the U.S. Department of Justice will advise the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals by NOON on THURSDAY (4/9) (TOMORROW) whether the DOJ supports or opposes Minor's release on bail pending the outcome of the appeal, which is currently under deliberation by 5th Circuit. Given the substantial questions raised about Minor's prosecution release on bail seems appropriate from a legal perspective and imperative from a humane perspective.
Attorney General Holder and his advisors will be making a decision on Paul Minor's request within the next 12 hours or so. Please consider emailing him at AskDOJ@usdoj.gov to urge the DOJ to support (or at least not oppose) Minor's release while his appeal is pending.
At the Congressional hearing on "Allegations of Selective Prosecution: The Erosion of Public Confidence in Our Federal Justice System" yesterday, Congressman Artur Davis mentioned a recent article in Time Magazine reporting that Lanny Young told investigators he made illegal contributions, not only to former Governor Don Siegelman, but to Republicans Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor as well. Seemingly, prosecutors weren't interested in hearing about that -- they wanted to hear about Don Siegelman. Davis asserted this preferential interest in Siegelman wrongdoing indicated selectiveness on the part of the Department of Justice.
Unwilling to let that "selectiveness" charge stand, writers for the Birmingham News talked to someone who was involved in the case:
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Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman can lay out a pretty strong case for political prosecution, but I think 
