Bob Dole: Moussaoui Judge in 'Clinton Hall of Shame'

The Clinton-appointed federal judge who tossed out half the government's death
penalty case against convicted 9/11 "20th hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui on
Tuesday has a history of liberal rulings and was once named by Sen. Bob Dole
to the "Clinton Hall of Shame."

Even before Judge Leonie Brinkema decimated the government's case by ruling that evidence from key witnesses had been tainted by prosecutorial misconduct, veteran terrorism prosecutor Andrew McCarthy warned Brinkema not to overreact.

Writing about the furor over the prosecution's blunder on NationalReviewOnline Monday, McCarthy said: "It is a tempest in a teapot that is obviously being blown out of proportion - as frequently happens with people philosophically opposed to the death penalty, who often portray every run-of-the-mill error in death-penalty proceedings as if it were Armageddon."

McCarthy added that he wasn't sure that the liberal justice indeed held those views, but noted, "This is only a big problem if Judge Brinkema, for whatever reason, decides to turn it into one."

That's exactly what the Clinton appointee did with her ruling the next day - a move that fits the pattern of liberal decisions that prompted Sen. Dole to name Brinkema ten years ago to what he called the "Clinton Hall of Shame."

Dole cited a 1995 case in which Brinkema gave a mere 21 month sentence to a convicted murderer, instead of the seven-to nine-year term called for by federal guidelines.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit later overturned her ruling.
Dole isn't alone in blasting Brinkema for her judicial activism. "It's my impression that she is highly ideological," complained Delaware State Representative Richard Black three years later.

According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Black was outraged by a 1998 Brinkema decision, that barred the Loudoun County, Va., public library from using filters to prevent adults from viewing sexually explicit material on the Internet.