http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immig1-2008aug01,0,7416056.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Iowa immigration raid case scrutinized
U.S. prosecutors' rapid-fire court processing may have violated the rights of hundreds of workers arrested at a meatpacking plant in May, the ACLU says.By Nicole GaouetteLos Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 1, 2008
WASHINGTON — Justice Department officials who prosecuted hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested at an Iowa meatpacking plant in May used a government-created manual to speed through guilty pleas, a potential violation of the rights of those detained in the raid, the American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday.
The manual was assembled before the workers were arrested or their lawyers were appointed. It lays out suggested guilty pleas for the arrested workers and specifies how they should waive their legal rights.
It includes detailed scripts for judges and lawyers to recite.
One suggests the judge say, "I want each of you to state your name, so I'll know who you are."
The manual ends with forms for sentencing and deportation.
ACLU lawyers said the scripts and the rapid-fire sentencing procedure had raised concerns that the Bush administration subverted fundamentals of legal justice in its push for an enforcement victory.
"The government's tactics really undermined the constitutional protections of due process and presumption of innocence," ACLU staff attorney Monica Ramirez said.
