DOJ Cracks Down on Judicial Corruption
Judge Carole Smitherman, the patron saint of the secretive and unconstitutional Star Chamber, may have more problems after she and her husband, State Senator Rodger Smitherman, accepted $30,000 in questionable contributions from entities funded by, associated with, or run by former associates of Balch & Bingham.
The U.S. Department of Justice is cracking down on judicial corruption. Yesterday a Supreme Court Justice in the highest court in the State of West Virginia was arrested.
Having provided information to the U.S. Department of Justice on alleged corruption and possible criminal conduct here in the judicial branch of Alabama, we were encouraged with the news from West Virginia. Fox News reports:
A West Virginia Supreme Court justice faces up to 395 years in prison and $5.5 million in fines after being hit with a 22-count indictment on numerous charges of fraud and corruption.
Allen H. Loughry II, a 47-year-old justice at the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, was charged by a federal grand jury on Wednesday with fraud, false statement, and witness tampering offenses.
Loughry was arrested by FBI agents on Wednesday morning at his home and was taken to the federal courthouse in Charleston for processing and to schedule his arraignment. He was not expected to be detained pending his trial.
“Public corruption is a top investigative priority for the FBI,” FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nick Boshears said. “It erodes public confidence and undermines the Rule of Law. We want the people we serve to know the FBI will hold those accountable who betray the public’s trust.”
Following up on our recent correspondence about the Ronnlund Debacle, we spoke to and sent the DOJ this past Monday dozens of pages of new evidence of alleged corruption.
Loughry and similar officers of the court in Alabama must be held accountable no matter who or how powerful their benefactors may think they are.
And Balch & Bingham’s friends on the bench should wisely keep away from insidious behavior or even the appearance of improper judicial conduct, like the unconstitutional and secretive Star Chamber.
