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A transplanted Midwesterner puts down roots in Alabama and helps show how "loyal Bushies" have corrupted our justice system.
Folks around the country probably know Auburn University for its powerhouse football team.
But the school at the "Loveliest Village on the Plains" might have been the site of something not so lovely during the trial of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.
The Saga of the Siegelman Jury
David Fiderer of Huffington Post reports that jurors Sam Hendrix and Katie Langer engaged in unlawful communication both before and during deliberations.
Fiderer provides details about the incestuous nature of certain activities at Alabama's largest university.
Hendrix works as a fundraiser at Auburn, and Langer is an alumna. Governor Bob Riley, Siegelman's opponent in 2002, is ex officio president of the Auburn University Board of Trustees, and Alabama Republican Party Chairman Mike Hubbard worked at Auburn before forming his own company that handles the university's multimedia rights. Hubbard's wife serves on the Auburn faculty.
In other words, Auburn hardly could be described as a progressive outpost.
Fiderer reports that while Hendrix and Langer stated to the press that the jury got along well, other jurors said in a post-trial hearing that they felt pressured to issue a guilty verdict. At least seven jurors said they knew Hendrix and Langer received information that was not available to other jurors.
As for juror e-mails that the government found to be forged, Fiderer cites several reasons for saying the government investigation itself was a "sham."
And where might the mystery e-mails have come from? Fiderer says they probably were sent by someone in the Auburn University development office.