Convictions: Slate's blog on legal issues

The Circus Comes to Guantanamo

Imagine if, during the O.J. Simpson murder trial, Judge Lance Ito ordered the district attorney's office to hand over DNA samples and logs of O.J.'s stay in county jail after his arrest. Then imagine that the prosecutors refused to do so. And that, instead of being fined for contempt of court (or thrown in jail themselves), these same prosecutors somehow got their boss to get Ito tossed off the bench. And then the D.A.'s office worked behind the scenes to replace Ito with a more, shall we say, compliant judge.

Wouldn't happen. Couldn't happen. Never in a million years. Not even in California.

Well, Cuba isn't California, and Guantanamo Bay is further still.

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