Mayor Herenton (Photo by Rachel Benford)

“You’ll be surprised to know the real reason why Joseph Lee and Mr. Ford, why that case was dropped. . . (They) did not want to have Joseph Lee – prominent African-American – to go to trial while at the same time they’re working desperately to try to find reasons to indict the African-American mayor. They didn’t want all that at the same time. Please believe me. There was a strategic decision on the part of the Justice Department. That’s what’s going on.”

The Department of Justice is responsible for conducting federal criminal investigations, prosecuting wrongdoers and enforcing antidiscrimination laws. Yet in Memphis and across the country, some people have begun to wonder if it is nonpartisan and fair in the way it operates, and in its commitment to “minority” workers.

For some, the factors contributing to the uncertainty include:

• On June 24, Lawrence J. Laurenzi, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced that his office had made a motion to the District Court to dismiss the case of U.S. v. Edmund Ford and Joseph Lee, two prominent African Americans. Laurenzi offered no explanation beyond this written statement: “The government has re-evaluated the case and stated to the court that a dismissal is warranted in the interest of justice.”

The abrupt dismal of charges has left Lee, former chief of the Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division, “weighing his options.” He said that his reputation was ruined needlessly and that he was a victim of partisan politics. “The case against me was fabrication,” he said. “It was a classic Justice Department/media witch hunt that was not a case at all. It was fabricated and devised certainly to get me thrown out of office, to throw a negative light on the Herenton administration and basically use the Justice Department to unseat me from the utility.”

• In February 2007, a study reported that the Bush administration’s Justice Department pursues targets who are Democrats far more than it does those who are Republicans. Dr. Donald C. Shields, professor emeritus from the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, said 79 percent of elected officials and candidates who faced a federal investigation (a total of 379) between 2001 and 2006 were Democrats; only 18 percent were Republicans. During that period, Democrats made up 50 percent of elected officeholders and office seekers; 41 percent were Republicans. “The chance of such a heavy Democratic-Republican imbalance occurring at random is 1 in 10,000,” according to the authors of the study, Shields and Dr. John F. Cragan, professor emeritus from Illinois State University.

• On May 29, Joi Hyatte, a 13-year veteran in the voting division of the Justice Department, filed suit in Washington. Hyatte claims that she and other African Americans have been “repeatedly denied the opportunity to apply and compete” for promotions. She contends the voting rights office, which is within the civil rights division, created a hostile work environment for African American workers.

So, who monitors those who monitor the system of justice?

A recent report released by the Justice Department’s inspector general documented the existence of political bias in a special program that tapped recent law graduates. It concluded that screeners showed a preference for job applicants from conservative groups, and a bias against those associated with liberal causes.

The investigation was launched after an anonymous group of Justice Department employees sent a letter to Congress.

The inspector general’s report did not address whether this bias extended into the general workforce, as Ms. Hyatte now alleges in her lawsuit. Nor does it address its overall impact on workforce diversity during the Bush years, or whether partisan hiring preferences ultimately shaped the agenda or priorities of the Justice Department and U.S. attorneys.

This week, the Tri-State Defender invited Laurenzi to address these concerns by providing information that would help this community hold an informed discussion of these issues. We asked him to provide the racial makeup of his attorney workforce; the racial makeup of the leadership team that helps makes prosecutorial decisions; and to disclose recent or current complaints of racial or gender discrimination.

The Defender also asked the office to share with its readers the safeguards or systems in place to ensure that citizens receive fair treatment.

After talking with Laurenzi, spokeswoman Leigh Anne Jordon said Laurenzi indicated that some of the information requested may be part of the public record, some may not. She said the newspaper would need to file a request with Washington officials under the Freedom of Information Act.

Executive Editor Karanja A. Ajanaku said the newspaper started that process this week.

“We want Memphis to have an informed conversation about the African American community’s concerns regarding the administration of justice, here and across the nation,” he said. “We really can’t have a useful dialogue unless the entire Memphis community is given access to all the facts.”

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen said he would get the Defender’s FOIA request to House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and seek his help in getting an expedited response.

“I think it is important to have it (transparency) for public trust,” said Cohen.

“I don’t have any reason to suspect that (former U.S. Atty.) David Kustoff (who oversaw most of the Tennessee Waltz prosecutions), or Larry Laurenzi is operating in an untoward fashion. They both have good reputations and Tim DiScenza (the federal government’s trial attorney in the Tennessee Waltz cases in Memphis) has a good reputation.”

“Joseph Lee is an accomplished African American in this community. . . If they would come after me, what does that tell any other young African American who sees the kind of hatchet job that I have just received at the hands of the Justice Department to destroy my career for no purpose.” – Joseph Lee III

After the charges were dismissed against Lee and former City Council member Edmund Ford, Herenton held a news conference in which he upbraided the media for failing to address what he says is partisan justice.

“You’ll be surprised to know the real reason why Joseph Lee and Mr. Ford, why that case was dropped,” said Herenton.

“(They) did not want to have Joseph Lee – prominent African American – to go to trial while at the same time they’re working desperately to try to find reasons to indict the African American mayor. They didn’t want all that at the same time. Please believe me. There was a strategic decision on the part of the Justice Department. That’s what’s going on.”

Until all the facts are in, we can’t say for sure.

Related Story:

Veteran Justice Department employee takes civil rights division to court