Ex-Attorneys General Back Siegelman (More Than 100 Sign Friend of Court Brief) [View all]

[Hissyspit]

Source: Wall Street Journal

MARCH 1, 2012, 5:59 PM

Ex-Attorneys General Back Siegelman

More than 100 former attorneys general are backing one of their own — Don Siegelman, Alabama former governor and attorney general, who was convicted in 2006 on corruption charges.

Siegelman was convicted in 2006 based on allegations that a donor gave $500,000 in contributions to a state lottery campaign that Sigelman favored in exchange for a seat on a state health care-board. After years of appeals, he’s looking to the U.S. Supreme Court a second time hear his case.

On Thursday, the group of former attorneys general led by former New York AG Robert Abrams weighed in with a friend of the court brief. According to the brief,

This case is about the criminalization of First Amendment freedoms — the giving and receiving of campaign contribution — based on an indefinite standard that will significantly alter the liberty of constituents to contribute to political campaigns without fear of criminal liability and the desire of citizens to run for political office in a system that largely depends on private contributions.

The brief was backed by 113 former top state lawyers, including some who also served as governors, such as Michigan’s Jennifer Granholm and Wisconsin’s James Doyle.

Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/03/01/ex-attorneys-general-back-siegelman/#