[ikka]

I was reading an old Buckley book and cames across the name Robert Morgenthau as well. Apparently two nutcases by the name of Dr. Benjamin Spock and William Sloane Coffin were running around inducing people to burn their draft cards, etc. Morgenthau, despite clear evidence, refused to prosecute them.

[mrustow]

I was reading an old Buckley book and cames across the name Robert Morgenthau as well. Apparently two nutcases by the name of Dr. Benjamin Spock and William Sloane Coffin were running around inducing people to burn their draft cards, etc. Morgenthau, despite clear evidence, refused to prosecute them.

Thanks for the background. I didn't know that, but I can't say I'm surprised. Morgenthau is also adamantly opposed to seeking the death penalty, but he's also sneaky. So, instead of saying he'll NEVER seek the death penalty, he goes through a ritual of saying regarding at the beginning of each heinous murder case, that he's "considering the matter," before announcing that he won't be seeking the death penalty. Thus does he avoid the fate of Bronx DA Robert Johnson, who announced he would NEVER seek the death penalty. And so, when a Bronx perp named Angel Diaz murdered a cop in cold blood (it wasn't a firefight or anything, just a routine traffic stop), Gov. Pataki seized the case from Johnson, and reassigned it to a prosecutor of his choosing.

Soon thereafter, Angel Diaz made the issue moot, by hanging himself in his jail cell.