ing the appellate process, and launched arncrusade to force the judge to revise hisrn30-month sentence, thus venturing intornthe realm of triple jeopardy. (For a fullrnaccount of this campaign, see RobertrnDeitz’s new book Willful Injustice.)rnBut clearly Powell was the victim of anrnattitude that went far beyond one vindictivernpublic ofhcial. In those quartersrnwhere Powell should have received thernstrongest support—namely, the policerndepartment—he instead became arnscapegoat for the sins attributed to lawrnenforcement, a sacrificial lamb offeredrnup at the altar of civil rights. Neitherrn”conservatives” nor the LAPD were willingrnto stand behind the two officers, andrnpolice representatives took steps to distancernthemselves. In May 1991, twornmonths after the “Rodney King incident,”rnDeitz recounts, Powell and StaceyrnKoon responded to a call about a violentrndomestic dispute. While breaking uprnthe fight, Powell allegedly hit one of thernparticipants with his flashlight, whilernSergeant Koon said “F—k you” to a troublesomernrelative. These trivial chargesrnwere later denied by one of the witnesses.rnThis little episode was completelyrnforgotten—until Powell and Koon stoodrntrial for civil rights infractions, whereuponrnLAPD Captain James McBriderndredged up the incident as a pretext tornissue Powell an official reprimand, chargingrnhim with misconduct of the gravestrnkind. Powell and Koon later came underrnfire for their racist attitudes and theirrnhandling of Saint Rodney, even thoughrnthey had in no way deviated from normalrnpolice procedure. The LAPD apparentlyrnfelt that by bringing in a new black policernchief and cracking down on “racists”rnin its ranks, it could demonstrate tornworld opinion its good faith and sensitivityrnto liberal concerns.rnRichard Delgaudio, president of thernLegal Affairs Council, in a press releasernannouncing the Court’s decision, laudsrnthe Justices for uniformly recognizingrnthat Rodney King had provoked and assaultedrnSergeant Koon’s men. For once,rnthe Court has acted as a disinterested interpretjrrnof the law, instead of followingrnReno who sought, in Delgaudio’s words,rnto “appeas[e] a loud fringe group [in orderrnto] help President Clinton’s reelectionrncampaign.”rnOf course, there is no guarantee thatrnPowell’s ordeal is over—if the regime isrnwilling to stoop to triple jeopardy, thenrnwhy not quadruple and quintuple jeopardy?rnAs survivors of the Waco holocaustrnknow, Janet Reno does not take a coolrnand disinterested approach to cases involvingrnthe welfare of children or otherrndesignated victims. Alexander Cockburn,rnin The Golden Age Is in Us, writesrnabout a case that does not get the attentionrngiven to Waco. While running forrnreelection as Dade County prosecutor inrn1984, Reno used, let us say, extraconstitutionalrnmethods to push for the prosecutionrnof a Cuban man her office had labeledrna child abuser. Unable to securernsolid evidence, Reno visited the man’srn17-year-old wife, imprisoned on lesserrncharges, and urged her to testify againstrnher husband. “If outlined in a humanrnrights report,” Coekburn writes, “thernmethods endorsed by Reno would justlyrnbe called brainwashing. They includedrnisolation, quasi-hypnosis, conditionedrnresponse and kindred mind-bendingrntechniques.” The girl insisted on her andrnher husband’s innocence, and “the casernwas becoming a political liability forrnReno” during a heated election campaign.rnWhen the girl was brought out ofrnsolitary confinement for a polygraphrntest, she gave in and agreed to make depositionsrnagainst her husband. She laterrnmade them yith Reno holding her hand.rnIn a statement to the judge, the gid admitted,rn”I am pleading guilty to get all ofrnthis over.”rn—Michael WashburnrnTHE NEW AMERICAN has longrnbeen a pariah among mainstream journalsrnof opinion, both liberal and “conservative.”rnWith its blend of investigativernjournalism and fierce polemics, the NewrnAmerican has gone out of its way to offendrnthe apologists for world governmentrnand state power. While that hasrnnot changed, the May 13,1996, issue hasrna striking new look—with a slick colorrnphotograph gracing the front cover alongrnwith the words, “That Freedom ShallrnNot Perish.” Subscribers do not need tornbe reminded of the magazine’s message,rnbut the purpose of the slogan is to givernpotential new readers an idea of thernmagazine, for with this issue, the NewrnAmerican is available at newsstands allrnover the country.rnO B I T E R DICTA: The Ludwig vonrnMises Institute publishes a quarterlyrnjournal, the Mises Review, written byrnDavid Gordon, a senior fellow at the Instituternwho holds a Ph.D. in intellectualrnhistory from UCLA and has written arnnumber of books on economic theory.rnInformed by Gordon’s vast knowledge,rnthe Review offers trenchant essay-reviewsrnof the latest works of political and economicrnthought. (In the summer issue,rnGordon skewers Michael Lerner.) For arnone-year subscription, send $15.95 tornthe Mises Review, Ludwig von MisesrnInstitute, Auburn, AL 36849-5301.rnDetails about this year’s John RandolphrnClub meeting can be found in the ad onrnpage 47.rn* * *rnChronicles is now sold at the followingrnstores in Pennsylvania: HolidaysburgrnBook and Video, 519 Allegheny St., Holidaysburg;rnGene’s Books, Inc., King ofrnPrussia Plaza, King of Prussia; TowerrnRecords & Video, 340 W. DeKalb Pike,rnKing of Prussia; Borders, RosemontrnShopping Center, Bryn Mawr; Barnes &rnNoble Superstore, 720-730 LancasterrnAve., Bryn Mawr; Bryn Mawr NewsrnAgency, 844 Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr;rnBorders, 8701 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia;rnBorders, 1727 Walnut St.,rnPhiladelphia; Avril 50, 3406 Sansom St.,rnPhiladelphia; Encore Books, Top of thernHill Shopping Center, Philadelphia;rnBorders, 1775 N. Highland Rd., Pittsburgh;rnBorders, Springfield SquarernShopping Center, Springfield; MediarnPlay, Hills Plaza, Harrisburg; EncorernBooks, Hills Plaza So., State College;rnBarnes & Noble Superstore, 5909 PeachrnSt., Erie.rnLIBERAL ARTSrnSMOKEY THli BEAR, U.S.rnBORDER PATROLrnAccording to the Washington Post onrnJune 7, the summer wildfires in thernborder areas of Southern Californiarnwere exacerbated bv illegal immigrants.rnThe illegals “are causing a dramaticrnsurge in wildfires because ofrnfires they light when camping out,”rnsay state officials; other immigrantsrn”intentionally start wildfires to createrna diversion when they think theyrnhave been detected.” Ken Miller ofrnthe California Forestry Departmentrnestimates that the 212 wildfires in thernborder area this year have cost taxpayersrn$3 million in firefighting expensesrn(in 1994, there were only 24 fires inrnthe region).rnOCTOBER 1996/7rnrnrn