Ted Stevens served as an Alaskan senator from 1968 to 2009, presiding over Alaskan legislation that shaped the state’s identity, including the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. In 2008, Stevens’ attempt to run for re-election to the Senate was derailed by scandal. He was accused of failing to report gifts (a felony). The alleged indiscretion lead to a defeat at the polls eight days after he was found guilty, despite his having pleaded not guilty. However, shortly before Stevens was sentenced, the indictment was dismissed after the Justice Department found evidence of gross prosecutorial misconduct (when a defendant argues that a guilty verdict should not be considered legitimate because the prosecution acted in an inappropriate or “unfair” manner. In Stevens’ case, this inappropriate behavior included the prosecution purposely withholding exculpatory evidence). The press release can be found here. After suffering an embarrassing and disappointing conclusion to a long political career, Stevens died in a plane crash in 2010.
Henry Schuelke III, the author of a 500 page report on Stevens’ case released on March 15, stated that the system in place now lets prosecutors pick and choose what they consider exculpatory evidence, which can often lead to the withholding of important facts. Earlier this month, Senator Lisa Murkowski, also from Alaska, introduced a bill that would create a single standard for evidence in federal courts, preventing the prosecutors from personally determining the materiality of evidence.
This is an example of a problem window opening in the wake of disaster. Stevens’ legal counsel, Brendan Sullivan, claims that this incident "provides evidence of government corruption that is shocking in its boldness and its breadth." Murkowski obviously felt the public humiliation suffered by Stevens was motivation enough to attempt to prevent others from similarly being erroneously charged. While coverage of this case suffers from the lack of public outcry that cases such as Trayvon Martin's has, Murkowski’s attempt to bring Stevens’ case into the public eye might spur congress to take the issue more seriously.
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