Court declines FBI Jefferson appeal

Posted: Monday, March 31, 2008 10:35 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: Courts, 2008, Pete Williams

From NBC's Pete Williams
In something of a surprise, the U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear an appeal involving the FBI's unprecedented search of the Capitol Hill offices of Congressman William Jefferson.

A federal appeals court ruled that the FBI wrongly used its own agents look through the material seized to determine what might be covered by congressional privilege. This is a considerable victory for Jefferson, largely validating his objections to the search and giving him certain bragging rights. But prosecutors claim they have sufficient evidence independent of the search. The cash in his freezer, for example, was found well before Jefferson's offices were searched.

The court today handed down just one decision, a victory for Delaware. The state hoped to stop construction of a proposed British Petroleum liquified natural gas port on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. The court, acting in its special role as the sole decider of disputes between the states, ruled Delaware has a say in what's built on the New Jersey side of the river involving projects that would extend into the river, where both states have joint authority.

EMAIL THIS

Comments

The Right to Privacy was actually validated a wee bit today. There IS hope of being able to revive the Bill of Rights after the current occupants of the WH leave office.

Vote Democratic 2008

Carol, Long Valley NJ (Sent Monday, March 31, 2008 10:48 AM)

As a former Louisiana redident who was invited to leave thanks to hurrican Katrina, I can tell you that William "Bill" Jefferson is a liar and a crook.

I mean, doesn't everybody keep $90,000. dollars in their freezer?

Everybody in the Mob.

JB, Charlotte, NC (Sent Monday, March 31, 2008 10:56 AM)

At least the court rejected governmental arrogance. If you dip into history books, Chuck, you can see how far more corrupt the FBI has been than Jefferson. So, I am glad the court is listening moe to the people than to the arrogance and stupidity of the government. Bush has won many stupid cases, not surprisingly so given that he stuffed the court with justices aligned with hi nonsense ideologies.

Ron H. Allen (Sent Monday, March 31, 2008 11:07 AM)

JB, Charlotte, NC,
Yes, he is a crook. But if you can do a little mroe research, you can find even worse corruption cases among other representatives. I try not to base my analysis on ho I feel toward each politician but on the facts available to me as a student of history. I would even argue that our government as a whole is corrupt right now, primarily the presidency and the GOP and DNC.

Ron H. Allen (Sent Monday, March 31, 2008 11:11 AM)

JB -- Whether Jefferson is a "liar" and a "crook" or not, he's entitled to have his Constitutional rights upheld. Ask yourself how you would feel about that if the FBI came to your house in the middle of the night and demanded to see all your tax records? Even if you have nothing to hide, wouldn't you demand they get a valid warrant?

Carol -- I wish I shared your optimism. Even if a democrat is elected, the most that will probably happen is that he/she will be able to replace some of the more progressive members of the Court, such as Stevens and Ginsberg. Alito and Roberts will be around a long time, and Scalia is immortal, being the devil himself.

Amy Andersen, Eden Prairie, MN (Sent Monday, March 31, 2008 11:37 AM)

I had $90,000 cash in the freezer, but I spent it on gasoline over the last 7 years.

Wayne, Texas (Sent Monday, March 31, 2008 12:06 PM)

I'm sure JB in Charlotte sat silently while in La and watched a succession of corrupt dem and reps pilfer the state coffers...its the way down there

jerry/ corpus christi texas (Sent Monday, March 31, 2008 12:12 PM)

Sounds to me like the Supremes might be a little concerned with their future.......what kind of heartburn will little Scalia have after the Dem landslide?

Greg R., Spokane, WA (Sent Monday, March 31, 2008 2:28 PM)

Let's get the story straight people. The FBI did have a warrant to search his house and his office. He then claimed privelege based on the fact that since he conducts legislative bussiness in his office, that it could not be searched. With this country's history of corruption in politics from all parties in the past, you would think that the courts would have some mechanism to allow this type of search without having to contact the members of congress before hand so they have the ability to remove any incriminating material.

James C. Rickett, Tampa, Fl (Sent Monday, March 31, 2008 2:33 PM)

SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

Your name, city and state (John Doe, Seattle, Wash.):

Your e-mail address (jdoe@msnbc.com):

Your website (it's okay if you don't have one):

Remember me? (We'll keep it private) Remember me?

TRACKBACKS

Trackbacks are links to weblogs that reference this post. Like comments, trackbacks do not appear until approved by us. The trackback URL for this post is: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/trackback.aspx?PostID=844173