THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 13, 1996 TAG: 9601130007
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
On three separate occasions between Dec. 14 and Dec. 23, 1995, The Virginian-Pilot ran front-page articles concerning allegations of racially selective prosecutions by the U.S. attorney's office in Norfolk. Unfortunately, none of the articles accurately and fairly explained the role of U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson in the controversy.
Furthermore, each article, gratuitously and with little journalistic merit, inserted the photograph of Judge Jackson. If by doing so your paper was suggesting that Judge Jackson's judicial decisions are colored by his race, then you have done him a grave injustice.
In response to motions filed by attorneys for some of the defendants in the drug-conspiracy case, Judge Jackson, like any reasonable judge, requested the U.S. attorney's office to provide him with information solely within that office's possession which would permit him to fairly dispose of the motions.
Rather than comply with the court's order, the U.S. attorney and her assistants have chosen to defy the court and to use your newspaper as a vehicle to plead the case.
Judge Jackson is ethically bound to remain silent in this unfolding saga, but those of us who respect the independence and honor of the judiciary cannot stand idly by while misinformation, in the form of newspaper articles, is fed to the public.
The Virginian-Pilot has a responsibility to its readers to provide fair and balanced reporting. Your recent articles castigating Judge Jackson for his judicial decisions fall far short of the mark.
LARRY W. SHELTON, president
Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association
Norfolk, Dec. 23, 1995 by CNB