Friday night the Federal Government dropped all charges against James Yee, the army captain accused of espionage... Too bad they had already spent months smearing his reputation and that of his family. There ought to be some sort of recourse for victims of overzealous government prosecution. Maybe there is. In cases where character assault is involved, the penalty should be severe.
The next time someone tells you that you are too concerned about the government abusing powers like those contained in the Patriot Act, remind them about James Yee. When John Aschroft talks about improving the quality of our intelligence, maybe he should be saying that people in the agencies will start to use some of theirs.
Here is an article in the Seattle P-I about Yee's ordeal:
href=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/165754_robert22.asp
But for the people who are targeted, the overzealous prosecution turns into a persecution hell that could have been avoided with a modicum of restraint.
"I hope nobody has to go through an experience like this," Yee's wife, Huda Suboh, told me late Friday after she received the news about her husband.
She called and shared a message she wanted the government to hear:
"If you are going to charge someone, please be sure you have enough evidence. Because we suffered. We really suffered. We suffered for nothing."
Yee spent 76 days in solitary confinement while the government tried to build its case. His wife remained at their Olympia home, stressed out and lonely.
"It was very hard, especially at the beginning when they talked about him being a spy," she said. "From the beginning, I knew he was innocent. It was horrible."