Written Opinion Reveals Why Prisoner Released at Close of Oral Argument
A few weeks ago, in U.S. v. Thompson, 06-3676 the 7th Circuit took the unusual action of ordering the immediate release of a prisoner at the conclusion of oral argument of the appeal of her conviction. Since the conviction of Thompson, an aide to Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, a Democrat, had been fodder in a nasty election battle, speculation arose that the Court considered the prosecution to have been politically motivated .
The court's written opinion issued Friday makes no mention of a political motivation for the prosecution, but instead blames congress for creating vague political corruption statutes. See Decision of the Day for details of the facts underlying the case.
