Franklin, Andrews, Kramer & Edelstein

[jurisper]

NYT editorial today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/29/opinion/29wed3.html

The Judge Who Cracked the Bulger Case
Published: June 28, 2011

For anyone trying to fathom James (Whitey) Bulger’s long, pathological career on both sides of the law, a 661-page opinion by Mark Wolf, chief judge of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts, tells the inside story.

[The magisterial opinion here: http://www.ipsn.org/court_cases/United_States_v_Salemme_Decision.htm

He leads with a quote from Lord Acton: "Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice."

... ]

The Wolf opinion is famous in the world of criminal justice. It led to high-profile hearings in Congress on “The F.B.I.’s Use of Murderers as Informants.”

The only time Judge Wolf commented publicly about this saga was a decade ago when he sentenced Mr. Flemmi to life in prison for his part in 10 murders. He said that “the F.B.I.’s relationship with Bulger and Flemmi was not an isolated, aberrant occurrence” when it came to the Top Echelon informants program. He found “a long pattern of the F.B.I.” ignoring the Constitution’s requirement that it be “candid with the courts” and prosecutors.

Judges are supposed to dispense justice but rarely root out crimes. As a result of Judge Wolf’s courage and persistence, the government has paid more than $100 million in claims to families of people murdered by informants shielded by the F.B.I. There is no good evidence that the F.B.I. has set up independent oversight of its informants program like what the judge called for. It’s high time.