Johnson: Cost of justice too steep
October 11, 2007 at 12:15 pm by Scott Henry in NewsIt would seem that no longer being responsible for leading the state Senate has been a liberating experience for Sen. Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, who recently has been free in sharing his unsolicited opinions on the issues of the day. Last week, EJ ruffled feathers with his musings that maybe Grady Memorial Hospital should curl up and die.
This morning, he released a statement criticizing a Wednesday ruling by Fulton Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller that the government should dig deeper between the couch cushions to find the money to give accused courthouse shooter Brian Nichols a fair trial:
“Taxpayers should not be required to pay millions of dollars to defend a guy who killed a judge, a court reporter, and two law enforcement officers. Let’s be honest. This isn’t about justice. This is a backdoor attempt to end the death penalty by bankrupting the public defenders budget. Judge Fuller has found the taxpayers guilty without a trial.”
I have to admit some ambivalence on this one. Not about Johnson’s ridiculous claim that the judge is trying to kill Georgia’s death penalty (although Bill Shipp suspects that may the goal of the defense team). But the defense effort for Nichols has always seemed a little like preparations for a show trial whose purpose is not to determine guilt but to showcase the glorious impartiality of American jurisprudence.
Would it really be so terrible if Nichols got justice at a Costco price?
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