Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
But not at military prisons or installations, but rather at private prisons in the United States:
A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers.The indictment criticizes Cheney's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees by working through the prison companies.
Gonzales is accused of using his position while in office to stop an investigation into abuses at the federal detention centers.
This should be very interesting to watch. As my Michigan Messenger colleague Eartha Melzer reported last week, a private prison company in Michigan was charged with murder.
Politics
Comments
Less than I would like, but certainly more than I expected!
Posted by: Chris A | November 19, 2008 10:29 AM
OT: Ed, you should read this bit of fear-mongering from the AFA:
http://friendlyatheist.com/5856/theyre-coming-to-your-town/
https://store.afa.net/pc-10000122-5-theyre-coming-to-your-town-dvd.aspx
Posted by: llewelly | November 19, 2008 10:35 AM
From what I've seen, the D.A. who brought the charges has a history of doing this type of thing, and I just don't see how it's going to go anywhere, even after getting a grand jury indictment.
But after years of seeing politicians getting away with murder (figurative and literally) it's no surprise that many people warm to the idea of some kind of eternal justice for the wicked that none can escape -- well, unless you manage to grab yourself a get-out-of-jail-free conversion on the way out, of course.
Posted by: tacitus | November 19, 2008 10:45 AM
This is a bit of s stretch. Indicting someone for assault because they are invested in a company that is invested in another company which is involved in running a prison at which a prisoner was abused? Lord, Cheney is guilty of real crimes. Go after him for those.
And after reading the article, it seems to me that the DA who brought the charges is a bit off his rocker.
Posted by: Spidergrackle | November 19, 2008 10:54 AM
Question: Can the President pardon people while they are under indictment? I had thought that he could only pardon those already found guilty, not those merely suspected of having committed crimes.
Posted by: Rod | November 19, 2008 11:19 AM
Rod, I think the President can only pardon people for federal crimes (whether they've been indicted or not.) If these are state charges, the President can't do anything about them. Although I guess the state's Governor could.
Posted by: Moderately Unbalanced Squid | November 19, 2008 11:49 AM
Rod, I think MUS is correct, that the Pres can only pardon federal crimes, but that governors (or their representatives) can pardon state crimes. I seem to recall though that Ford pardoned Nixon pre-emptively, so it seems no actual sentence has to have been handed down.
Posted by: Dave S. | November 19, 2008 12:53 PM
And I seem to recall (refreshed by a MSNBC Countdown bit earlier this week) that Pres. Clinton pardoned someone who was at the time fugitive from justice and that many were up in arms over that because you should only pardon those who have already faced justice and been sentenced.
Posted by: kodiak | November 19, 2008 3:12 PM
Ah, the name of the Clinton pardon was Marc Rich.
Posted by: kodiak | November 19, 2008 3:17 PM
I agree with tacitus. I find it highly doubtful that these charges will stick. As the old saying goes, you could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. But I do hope it brings more attention to the problem of private prisons in this country.
Posted by: Ed Brayton | November 19, 2008 5:35 PM
What is wrong with you SP's? Don't you listen to "the folk"? Activist judges!
Goddamn it! Fuck it!
Posted by: A Bold Fresh Piece of Human Excrement | November 19, 2008 8:37 PM
Come on. This is Willacy County, which is part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Anything having to do with politics there is guaranteed to have two features: lunacy and corruption. It wouldn't surprise me if the grand jury consisted of the prosecutor's wife, three of his cousins, two of his mistresses, his boy on the side, two of his legit kids, two of his illegit kids, and the drug dealer who paid for his swimming pool and happened to be his half-brother.
Welcome to politics, Valley-style.
That being said, I still love Port Mansfield, a quiet little fishing village on Willacy Co.'s coastline. Most people are there for the fishing, but I liked the wildlife and birds.
Posted by: Aquaria | November 21, 2008 4:17 AM