with several law enforcement intelligence groups.rnOn July 13, 1993, Occhipinti, myself, Curtis Sliwa, and othersrntestified before the New Jersey Senate Committee on Lawrnand Public Safety. The senators were aghast as Joe documentedrnthe extensive crimes he had uncovered while investigatingrnthe organized crime operated by aliens: narcotics smuggling,rngambling, loan sharking, smuggling and harboring ofrnillegal aliens, money laundering, illegal wire transfers, armedrncarjackings and stolen car rings, currency and document counterfeiting,rnbribery of New Jersey officials, wire fraud, foodrnstamp and welfare fraud, other entitlement fraud, organizedrntheft of Treasury checks, theft and exportation to the DominicanrnRepublic of agricultural products originally intendedrnfor New Jersey’s poor, distribution of untaxed liquor, illegalrnfirearms and stolen property, assassinations, and terrorism.rnWhen one senator questioned his innocence, Occhipinti responded,rn”I’ve demanded a new trial. If again convicted, I facernprison and death. Senator, does that sound like the action ofrna guilty man?”rnPhvsically and financially exhausted, Occhipinti proclaimsrnthat “the only way the drug lords will stop me from clearing myrnname and exposing their crime, is through assassination. Thernpublic must realize that the only winners in our multibilliondollarrnwar on drugs have been the drug cartels. My vindicationrnwill be the first step back. If I lose, nothing will stop the countryrnI love from degenerating into a Third World banana republic,rnwhere the rule of law will be supplanted by drug dealers’rndollars.”rnThe president of the federal agents’ Patrolmen’s BenevolentrnAssociation, Dick Callahan, has noted that in the year prior tornOcchipinti’s conviction, the local office of the federal DEA hadrnconducted 2,700 investigations. That number shrank to 500 inrnthe year after the conviction because of fear that the tactic usedrnto send Occhipinti to prison would be used against other federalrnagents. Also as a result of Occhipinti’s conviction, the presidentrnof the New York-New Jersey Port Authority Police Unionrnannounced that his officers have ceased all consensualrnsearches and drug interdiction activity in the ports of New Yorkrnand New Jersev, fearing that criminal charges regarding civilrnrights violations would be their reward for effective policernwork.rnSupport for Joe’s cause cuts across party lines, as every citizenrnand lawman is adversely affected bv his conviction. OnrnJanuarv25, 1993,1 prepared a resolution for the New Jersey Assemblvrnthat was introduced by Assemblyman Dick Kamin onrnFebruary 8 and that passed unanimously on February 18. As AssemblymanrnKamin declared when introducing resolution AR-rn107, “Mr. Speaker, the democratic process can sometimesrnmake mistakes—in this case, a tragic one. No law enforcementrnofficer wants to be the next Joe Occhipinti. By passage of thisrnResolution, we can help the democratic process to restore hisrngood name.” The resolution, which passed 76-0, urges thernClinton administration to appoint a special prosecutor to investigaternthe alleged conspiracy against Occhipinti; a prosecutorrnto investigate what appears to be a Justice Departmentrncover-up of the handling of the Occhipinti case; and a congressionalrnpanel to investigate the extent of Dominican andrnThird World drug operations in the United States, especially inrnNew York and New Jersey. The resolution calls for a full pardonrnfor Occhipinti if the results of these investigations warrantrnsuch action. It also calls for a new trial if the results are inconclusive.rnOn July 13, the New Jersey Senate Committee on Lawrnand Public Safetv voted unanimously to release SR-86 (thernSenate companion to AR-I07) for a full floor vote. Passage wasrnexpected as this article went to press. The states of New Yorkrnand Pennsvlvania have introduced identical bills. The Clintonrnadministration, however, has thus far ignored the New Jerseyrnlegislature’s appeals. We request readers sympathetic to thisrncause to send a letter to President Clinton asking him to takernaction on New Jersey AR-I07 and the Occhipinti case. Pleasernsend a copy to Joe for his files. Also, preprinted petitions tornPresident Clinton are available from the Joe Occhipinti LegalrnDefense Fund, Inc., P.O. Box 318, Manalapan, NJ 07726. Furtherrninformation on the case and a four and one-half hourrnvideo documentary are available on request, and donations forrnthe legal defense are graciously accepted. ?rnLIBERAL ARTSrnTHE REAL ABUSErnTwo Minnesota women who accused a Roman Catholicrnbishop of sexually abusing them more than 30 years agorndropped their lawsuits last July. Though Bishop GeraldrnO’Keefe, head of the diocese of Davenport, Iowa, was obviouslyrnrelieved at the women’s decision, he still blasted thernwomen’s attorne}, Jeffrey R. Anderson of St. Paul, Minnesota,rnwho has represented over 100 people alleging sexual abusernby clcrgv. According to the Chicago Tribune, Bishop O’Keefernis not angry with the two women, who have long histories ofrnmental illness, but rather with the lawyer “who knew very wellrnthat there were many reasons to doubt the women’s stories.rn. . . [Wjithout even giving me the courtesy of a telephonerncall, this attorney sued mc, attacked my reputation, and calledrninto question everything that I have done in my 50 years as arnpriest.”rnOCTOBER 1993/29rnrnrn