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Politics : About that Cuban boy, Elian -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Barracuda™ who wrote (3698)	4/29/2000 10:49:00 PM
From: jimpit	Respond to of 9127

More from my new friend, Dershowitz <g> ___________________________________________________________ NewsMax.com newsmax.com For the story behind the story... Saturday April 29, 2000 9:06 PM EST Dershowitz: Reno-INS 'Took Law into Their Own Hands' Last Thursday night Alan Dershowitz appeared in CNBC's Geraldo program. Some of his comments are excerpted below. Family Was Not Breaking the Law "They[the government] had a very easy remedy here. They could have gone to a court [and] got a court order, held the family in contempt. If the family refused to leave, then they could have gotten a warrant and arrested family members who were in contempt of court. ...They couldn't have because the family was not breaking the law." Only a Court Order Can Direct a Citizen "Nobody has an obligation in this country to listen to the executive. The executive, whether it's the president or the INS, has no authority over citizens of this country. "You need a court order to tell a citizen of this country to respond to the INS. And it establishes a terrible precedent for Janet Reno or any other member of the administration to set deadlines, to give orders. "Citizens do not have an obligation to obey the executive. They have an obligation to obey court orders." Reno Circumvented Court Order "And remember another thing: that Janet Reno circumvented the court order. The court order said essentially, 'Let's retain the status quo.' The object of this raid was to moot the appeal because we're now going to see the lawyers for the father... "... am predicting that this is going to happen. We're going to see this appeal mooted as the result of this--of this removal of the child and the change in the status quo. "... Because the father will now say that the child has no right to make an application for asylum, and the 11th Circuit will be stripped of its jurisdiction. "...the 11th Circuit wanted to decide, and that's exactly why the 11th Circuit ordered him to stay in the United States, and that's exactly why they didn't seek a court order, because they knew they wouldn't get one." Reno-INS Took Law into Their Own Hands "And they took the law into their own hands, and that's what's wrong here. And as a civil libertarian, you have to complain, even when you think the right result may have been reached if the wrong means were used in reaching it." All Rights Reserved ¸ NewsMax.com _______________________________________________________ newsmax.com

To: The Barracuda™ who wrote (3698)	4/29/2000 10:55:00 PM
From: jimpit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9127

Some insight into possible reasons for some of the Miami Family's legal missteps... _____________________________________________________________ NewsMax.com newsmax.com Analysis: Miami Family Lawyer is Throwing Legal Case for Elian Jack Thompson Saturday April 29, 2000 NewsMax.com reports that a number of prosecutors and other employees in the Miami U.S. Attorney's Office are protesting against Janet Reno's forcible taking of Elian Gonzalez (see "Revolt in Reno's Ranks"). These employees wore black to work this week to register their disgust with Reno and her illegal raid on the Gonzalez home. But sources among the these Justice Department dissidents inform NewsMax.com that members of the group are equally dumbfounded by the legal actions of the Miami relatives. One of the assistant U.S. attorneys has now disclosed the following to NewsMax: "There are a number of us here [Assistant U.S. Attorneys] who don't understand why Elian's team of lawyers doesn't go to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and hammer Reno hard, to make her the issue, to show the three judges that her raid was illegal and obtained by a false affidavit. It's maybe the only way to get the boy a fair hearing. Kendall Coffey, who is the head of the team, who used to be our boss here as the U.S. Attorney, ought to know that is the only strategy that will work." But these same sources know why the legal case on behalf of the Miami family has been bungled: Kendall Coffey. As reported here weeks ago by this reporter, Coffey has been a very close associate of Reno for decades. Coffey had served as a former fund raiser for Reno when she was state attorney. Coffey, in an act of political patronage, was then hand-picked by the Attorney General to be her U.S. Attorney here in Miami. Coffey then had to resign in disgrace in 1996 when he bought a lapdancer a magnum of champagne in a notorious striptease club called the Lipstick Lounge. Coffey bit the dancer on the rear end, prompting a complaint by the young woman to the local police. It later turned out Kendall used a government credit card to pay for his extravagances as well. Coffey was brought into the case because members of the Cuban-American Democracy Movement have close ties to the local Democratic Party and thought Coffey's close relationship with Reno could help them understand her while helping smooth the negotiations. Obviously Coffey did not "understand" Reno and she couldn't care less that he was representing the Miami family, as her decision to storm the house demonstrated. Even if Reno had fired Coffey, their relationship had been too close for too long to suggest that he would be willing to take her to the mat in a serious legal match. That point, made in NewsMax.com weeks ago, was proven accurate by the very weak legal response the Miami family made in the wake of the outrageous raid into their home and the seizure of the boy. Sources among the U.S. Attorney's office are not surprised Kendall is not taking strong legal actions. He was not agressive as a U.S. Attorney and nobody thinks he wants to rock the boat with Reno, the Justice Department or the local Democratic establishment - because his private law practice still depends on his old network of contacts. But the sources are suprised that after the terrible situation Coffey has put them in that he is still in charge of their legal efforts. "If he remains in charge, the relatives are doomed. Elian will most certainly be returned," a source said. Is Coffey a decaffeinated attorney when it comes to mixing it up with his longtime friend Reno? So far he has helped put Elian just one step away from the next flight to Havana. Jack Thompson is a Miami attorney. He is a frequent commentator on the Elian Gonzalez case for the Fox News Channel. All Rights Reserved ¸ NewsMax.com ________________________________________________________________ newsmax.com