U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan still refuses to file charges against an admitted perjurer whose testimony put a doctor with no criminal record in prison. But she does have time to prosecute two harmless older men on federal charges of falsely displaying the wrong millitary regalia.

Both have actually served in the military. But they seem to have exaggerated their service by attending two American Legion events while wearing Marine Corps insignia for ranks they hadn’t attained. One insists he earned the rank, but the paperwork was long ago eaten up by military bureacracy.

I can see the need to protect the integrity of those who have earned the right to wear their rank and awards. But six months in prison seems a bit excessive. As does an FBI investigation, federal prosecution, and the obligatory press release.

One wonders: In the midst of the war on terror, why would a U.S. Attorney with limited time and resources send investigators to an American Legion outpost to hunt down two old guys for a crime that takes no victims, and that no one can remember actually having been prosecuted before?

It could have something to do with the fact that Buchanan has often been described as a “rising star” in Republican politics. A former high-ranking DOJ official, she’s now angling for a federal judicial appointment, or perhaps a shot at political office. So she’s raising quite the public profile. She’s been on PBS goes on PBS to defend the PATRIOT Act. She’s also warming the cockles of conservative hearts by blazing trails to bring down pornographers (note in that last link that the sentence Buchanan sought for obscenity charges — 50 years — is two-and-a-half times the maximum sentence for rape), consistent with boss Alberto Gonzalez’s declaration that Internet porn would be a “top priority” of his tenure. She once said that “enforcing morality” is one of her chief responsibilities as a U.S. Attorney. Buchanan also took on the Rottschaefer Oxycontin case just as the hullabaloo over the opiate painkillers was page-one news.

So how does all of this apply to those old coots in fake Marine get-ups? A couple of months ago, a gaggle of Congressmen got all tweaked up about the movie The Wedding Crashers, in which Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn impersonate military men in order to impress women. Congressman John Salazar was so offended, he now has a bill pending that would toughen penalties and give prosecutors more power to take down military impersonators.

Meanwhile, as Buchanan prosecutes men for exaggerating military achievement, she’s perfectly content to let Dr. Rottschaefer go to prison on testimony from her star prosecution witness that not only was demonstrably false, but that Buchanan herself encouraged with promises of leniency. Seems like a double standard on the ol’ “bearing false witness” commandment, doesn’t it?

Inconsistent application of principle. Selective morality. Using her office to boost her public profile.

Looks to me like Buchanan will do very well in politics.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 9th, 2005 at 5:17 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Pain Treatment, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.