Last night the State of Virginia executed a monster. Ironically enough the sniper-serial killer John Allen Muhammad - the Beltway Sniper was covered by Life Coach and former Journalist Jayson Blair.
Blair made more mistakes in his reports than the number of people who firmly believe that there is a steam heater (used to torture poor black men) in Area 2 Police Headquarters on East 111th Street. That's alot of mistakes.
Only a very few years ago the Medill Empire went to war on Sheriff Mike Sheahan. When the MacArthur Center for Justice teamed with the Medill Empire ( Tribune journalists/Chicago Magazine Medill School of Jornalism/Bernardine Dorhn & etc.) to PROVE that Sheriff Micahel Sheahan brutalized prisoners at Cook County Jail, it took a jury less than twenty minutes to tood all charges. Sheriff Sheahan quipped "Tribune Investigative Journalism is BS."
Medill Professor Dave Protess, an icon in the Justice Industry, seems to have wildly overplayed his hand in the controversy surrounding the McKinney Gambit. The McKinney Gambit holds that the Innocence Project has sanctified his cause and therefore he must be set free.
Hold on there, Professor Dave! Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez requested that all students involved in this project turn over notes and that their records be admitted as discovery items.
Howl! Howl! Howl! The Medill Empire went on full boil
1. CNN:
Editor's note: Nicole Lapin is an anchor and reporter based at the CNN Headquarters in Atlanta. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
(CNN) -- It was two-and-a-half days before Illinois Gov. George Ryan was to leave office in 2003. I sat in a crowded auditorium in Northwestern University's Law School in Chicago, where Ryan was expected to make a major announcement on capital punishment.
2. Retired Federal Judge Sarokin in Huffington Post .
But I truly believe that the attempt of prosecutors to subpoena "the grades, grading criteria, class syllabus, expense reports and e-mail messages of their journalism students themselves" at Northwestern University warrants and deserves the Gestapo label.
3.The Chicago Headline Club of the Society of Professional Journalists
The Chicago Headline Club, a chapter of the national Society of Professional Journalists, strongly protests the subpoenas issued by the state's attorney's office. The club issued this statement:
"The Headline Club believes Alvarez should rescind the subpoenas and stop pressuring Medill Innocence Project students to reveal all of their notes, recordings, e-mails and even grades given. Instead, her office should use what they have already from Medill students as a basis for their own further investigation. We recommend applause for the students' efforts to protect the innocent."
4. Daily Protess Protestations of Purity in the Chicago Tribune/WGN/& etc.
Until yesterday. Now it seems that Dave Protess and the Innocence Project were doing Procrustean Investigations - All the News That Fits.
Two witnesses were paid it appears, $40, or $50-$100. Cab Fare or Crack Cash it matters not. Here's some money tell our truth.
States Attorney Anita Alvarez called the bluff of a Sacred Cow in a herd of Scared Cows and the lowing of the cattle will only get more deafening.
This whole issue just may prove to be a Jayson Blair Which Project - journalism and lawsuit lotto lawyering where the facts are fabricated to fit the agenda.
I am cynical. We will see if I am wrong.
Virginia did a great service to America in putting a monster down. There is another such monster in Cleveland. There are many monsters for Professor Dave to service.
However, thanks to Anita Alvarez, the Justice System will be a little more wary of the Innocence Projects.
