The Judges Just Say No

April, 1991

Last fall, U.S. District Judge Marvin H. Shoob recused himself from an obscenity case when a U.S. Attorney sought to bring felony charges against a 50-year-old bookkeeper for importing adult tapes for his personal use."The initiation of this action has puzzled the court from the onset," reads the judge's opinion. It goes on to index the areas in which the justice system is overtaxed: drug prosecutions and white-collar crime. Why, it asks, is the Justice Department prosecuting a run-of-...