What if the US attorneys really needed to be fired
A rare media story appears to support the Bush Administration in two of the US attorney firings:
Area U.S. attorney lauded in gun cases
It appears to me that these two had ample time to realize that their performance was not sufficient prior to their dismissals.
Area U.S. attorney lauded in gun cases
The [Western MO] office could have been a prosecution model for two who were fired, Justice Department report shows.
At least two of the former U.S. attorneys fired last winter were criticized for their inattention to gun prosecutions, according to documents released recently as part of Congress’ investigation.
A performance review of former U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden of Nevada noted that his staff lawyers “failed to consistently follow (Department of Justice) policies with regard to firearms prosecutions.”
For Carol Lam, former U.S. attorney in Southern California, the criticism was more pointed.
“The president has made clear he expects gun crime to be a significant effort, but (the Southern District of California) has only brought a fraction of the cases of other extra-large districts,” the evaluation read. “Despite its size and population it ranks 91 out of 93 districts in terms of average numbers of firearms cases since (fiscal year) 2000, doing only an average of 18 cases.”
Lam also was criticized for the “modest” quantity of crimes-against-children cases filed in Southern California.
According to U.S. attorney caseload statistics released recently, her district filed four child pornography and abuse cases in 2005, while prosecutors in western Missouri filed 47, the sixth-most out of 93 districts.
It appears to me that these two had ample time to realize that their performance was not sufficient prior to their dismissals.
