International law now vital: Fitzgerald

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/301316,CST-NWS-fitz17.article

March 17, 2007
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Legal Affairs Reporter

DUBLIN, Ireland -- American prosecutors increasingly have to be aware of other countries' laws, Patrick Fitzgerald, Chicago's U.S. attorney, told a gathering of lawyers here Friday.

One example would be a prosecutor trying to go after a child molester who puts footage of his actions on the Internet. A prosecutor would need to be familiar with the laws of the country in which the transmission originates, Fitzgerald said.

"We used to think of prosecutions of conduct happening outside the United States as coming once in a blue moon, but I think we're going to start seeing this a lot more frequently," Fitzgerald said.

Taking the tougher route

When Fitzgerald went to Kenya in 1998 to investigate the bombing of the U.S. Embassy there, he and his team decided to follow both American and Kenyan law until they decided which country they would file charges in.

"If there were two ways of doing it, we would do it the harder way so it would stand up in court in either place," he said.

[NNN0LHI]

1. Compare this to the Bush regimes utter disdain for international law n/t

[hvn_nbr_2]

11. Actually, compare it to Bushco's disdain for ALL law, including USA law. nt

[TheConstantGardener]

2. Child molestation is the biggest example he can give?

These people are a joke. What about Bush's fragrant violations?

[Spazito]

3. Who are "these people"?

Fitzgerald was talking specifically about the need for lawyers to study international law instead of remaining insular to only US law. To speak about bush would have been totally inappropriate and unethical.

[TheConstantGardener]

4. Inappropriate and unethical

To talk about the most important aspect of international law in respect to the United States?

Maybe it would've been actually meaningful.

[Missy Vixen]

6. He was talking to a group from Chicago's ABA

>To talk about the most important aspect of international law in respect to the United States?<

What subjects do you think he should have taken up? You may also want to bear in mind that Patrick Fitzgerald is apolitical. He has to be because of his job.

Julie

[Spazito]

7. Unless and until bush is charged with something, it IS

inappropriate and unethical for Fitzgerald to raise this and he has proven himself to be an ethical, honest and non-political attorney and special counsel.

[windy252]

10. I wonder if maybe Fitzgerald is doing it for self-preservation.

Isn't he himself a U.S. attorney? Not saying it's right, just speculating.

[Missy Vixen]

5. Do you know anything about the case he was referencing in his comments?

The US Attorney's office in Chicago and the Toronto police cooperated to arrest and indict a group of criminals that were streaming molestations live over the Internet. I believe the youngest victim was less than one. Just reading about the case made me want to vomit. Hopefully, the perpetrators will be in jail for the vast remainder of their lives. If you'd like to research it, go to www.chicagotribune.com and take a look. They charge for archive articles, so I won't be posting it here.

>These people are a joke. What about Bush's fragrant violations?<

You might want to talk with Alberto Gonzales about that.

Julie

[ellisonz]

13. It was just an example...and an important one at that (see the international sex trade).

:shrug:

[Miss Chybil]

17. Yes, child molestation is such a minor problem.

All those pedophiles getting their rocks off at the expense of our babies... and then you have those pesky ones who like to torture and kill them. Gawd! Why should we bother with them? People should just get used to having their kids plucked out of their beds, used like three dollar whores and then thrown away with the trash.

INSERT HUGE "END SARCASM" HERE

I have never read a post on DU that brings me to such a state I could get myself tombstoned with my response to it like yours has. I'm going to back away now, before either my head explodes, or I throw up.

[bleever]

8. K&R for integrity and respect for the rule of law.

[wildbilln864]

9. K&R#5!

.

[DemReadingDU]

12. Fitz was in Dublin, Ireland, n/t

[dancingme]

14. this was a seminar by the Chicago Bar Assoc

"The audience of mostly American lawyers at the Chicago Bar Association-sponsored seminar included Mike Madigan, speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, and eight current and former state and federal judges."

My favorite Fitz quote:

Fitzgerald was one of the 63 percent of American lawyers who took no international law class in law school.
"I thought that was for students who studied Spanish or French. When you're from Brooklyn, you're working on English as your first language," he quipped.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/301316,CST-NWS-fitz17.article

[bobbolink]

15. "we would do it the harder way"

That is one committed man!

:patriot:

[NNN0LHI]

16. Thats what I have been thinking about all day since I posted this

Bush and his minions would just torture some schmuck into admitting to saying what they want him to say regardless of whether he is guilty or not. Just for political advantage.

While Fitzgerald is going to go the extra mile to make sure the accused get a fair trial and be sure we have got the right perps.

Big difference. Fitzgerald represents the America that I remember.

Don

[bobbolink]

18. It's called INTEGRITY.

It's also part of peacemaking.

:hi: