Overgovernment: Pay Back Edition
Written by Brian Garst, Posted in Big Government, Energy and the Environment, The Courts, Criminal Justice & Tort
Here’s another feel-good edition of Overgovernment. A man subjected to persecution by an out of control EPA has been awarded $1.7 million. The details of the case are outrageous (Hat-tip: Cato@Liberty):
The just-resolved case started in 1996 when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered its SWAT-like special operations team (equipped with M-16 rifles and police dogs) to raid the Canal Refinery, Mr. Vidrine’s workplace. The raid led to a criminal investigation against Mr. Vidrine for allegedly unlawful storage and disposal of hazardous wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
Drugs and Hypnotism. When asked to prove its case, the EPA turned to its star witness, Mike Franklin, who claimed he had taken samples of the allegedly hazardous material and had conducted tests proving Mr. Vidrine’s guilt. The only problem is that neither Mr. Franklin nor the EPA could produce these tests. Whoops. With the credibility of the case already crumbling, it then came to light that Mr. Franklin suffered an addiction to cocaine, an addiction that often results in psychosis: loss of contact with reality, including false beliefs. Determined to press on, the EPA tried to prove its case by extracting truthful information from Mr. Franklin through hypnosis. But this too failed.
Personal Vendettas. Seemingly oblivious to the evidence against his case, government prosecutor Keith Phillips pressed forward with such zeal that some people began to ask questions. These questions produced interesting answers: First, it was discovered that Phillips sought to prolong the case against Vidrine so he could continue his affair with the FBI agent assigned to the case (Ekko Barnhill) instead of returning home to his wife in Dallas. Second, Phillips harbored a personal vendetta against Vidrine and seemingly wanted to do everything possible to make his life miserable. These motives fall a bit short of the “pursuit of justice” that is supposed to guide EPA cases.
Ruling. The 142-page ruling relates this “you can’t make this stuff up” story in a way that reflects Judge Rebecca Doherty’s obvious frustration for Phillips’ actions on behalf of the U.S. government. The judge wrote that Phillips, “set out with intent and reckless and callous disregard for anyone’s rights other than his own, and reckless disregard for the processes and power which had been bestowed on him, to effectively destroy another man’s life.”
Further good news comes from the fact that the government thug responsible for the case is actually paying a personal price (one just generally assumes in such situations that there will be little to no repercussions for such behavior):
A former U.S. EPA agent who spearheaded the wrongful indictment of an refining plant manager — possibly to cover up his affair with an FBI agent — has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and perjury in a related civil case.
Keith Phillips, who signed a plea bargain yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, faces up to 10 years in prison on the obstruction of justice count and five years for the perjury count.
Unfortunately, too many government thugs go unpunished for similar abuses, but at least in this one case justice seems to have been done.
I serve as Vice President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a non-profit think tank dedicated to preserving tax competition and free markets. This site features my personal views, which are not reflective of CF&P.