In a Supreme Court filing Monday Justice Sonia Sotomayor shone a spotlight on the government’s mismanagement of a Texas drug case when she denounced the racially charged remarks of an assistant U.S. attorney as “an affront to the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws.” The lawyer’s conduct was referred to the Office of Professional Responsibility at the Justice Department, TPM has learned, but what actions were taken against the attorney for those remarks — if any — are unclear.The remarks in question came during the March 2011 trial of Bongani Charles Calhoun, a black man who was convicted on drug conspiracy charges after his companions on a road trip attempted to purchase cocaine from dealers who turned out to be undercover agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency. Calhoun contended he was not aware of the nature of the trip.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=91800