Pubdate: Fri, 26 Mar 2004
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author: Roy Black
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Limbaugh

RUSH LIMBAUGH HAS RIGHTS TOO

At what point does a prosecutor's investigation of a possible crime cross 
the line from legitimate inquiry to smear campaign? My interest in the 
question is not entirely academic. I'm Rush Limbaugh's attorney, and as 
anyone who has been following my client's situation is probably aware, the 
local prosecutor (or state attorney, as we call them in Florida) has been 
having a field day at Rush's expense ever since Rush announced last October 
that he'd become dependent on prescription pain medication and was entering 
a rehab clinic to deal with the problem.

Over the past six months, Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer 
has: raided drugstores near Rush's home; seized his medical records without 
going through the required process enacted by the Florida legislature to 
protect medical privacy; leaked false information to the media that he was 
about to plead guilty to a felony; threatened to make his medical records 
public unless he pled guilty to a felony he didn't commit; released to the 
media confidential letters regarding Rush's situation that he received from 
my office; and falsely claimed that the Florida Bar and attorney general's 
office approved of the release.

Normally, people with drug dependencies who acknowledge their problems and 
seek treatment are lauded for their courage, not prosecuted. So am I wrong 
to wonder if something is out of whack when the Palm Beach County State 
Attorney pulls out all the stops in an effort to nail Rush, while giving 
immunity to the traffickers who supposedly kept him supplied with 
painkillers, and who, as a result of a deal with the prosecutor, were able 
to make a six-figure killing selling their "story" to a tabloid?

There are lots of theories about why the prosecutor is doing what he's 
doing (he's an elected Democrat, Rush is a big fish, etc.), none of which 
matter. What does matter is that the prosecutorial abuse to which Rush is 
being subjected has ramifications for every doctor and patient in Florida 
- -- and throughout the U.S. As Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU 
Florida Chapter stated recently, "The outcome of this case is going to 
affect the privacy of everybody in the state of Florida." There is also 
concern about prosecutors who use their office not to enforce law but to 
pursue a personal agenda. Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who also happens to 
be a doctor, put his finger on the problem last month, telling the House of 
Representatives: "Under the guise of prosecuting the drug war, law 
enforcement officials can rummage through patients' personal medical 
records and, as may be the case with Mr. Limbaugh, use information 
uncovered to settle personal or political scores."

Rush's situation should trouble everyone who believes in the principle of 
equal treatment under the law. Even if you subscribe to the dubious notion 
that public figures should be made an example of, contrast the way Rush's 
case is being handled with treatment similarly afflicted celebrities have 
received at the hands of law enforcement. Do you recall Ozzy Osbourne or 
Elizabeth Taylor ever being singled out for criminal investigation after 
they publicly acknowledged their drug dependencies? You don't, because they 
weren't. Nor should they have been.

The improper seizure of Rush's medical records is now before an appeals 
court. And the Florida Bar is conducting an inquiry into why a Krischer 
deputy falsely claimed in a memo, initialed by Mr. Krischer himself, that 
ethics experts at the Bar and in the state attorney general's office had 
advised prosecutors that they had no choice but to make copies of our 
confidential correspondence available to the press. The Bar and the 
attorney general's office have publicly stated that they never gave this 
advice to Mr. Krischer or his deputy.

Undeterred, Mr. Krischer and his staff, who have yet to charge Rush with 
anything, continue to mutter darkly that Rush is a "suspect" for this or 
that crime. First it was drug trafficking, then money laundering; most 
recently, it's doctor shopping. For his part, Rush tries to get on with his 
life. But he, and I, worry about the precedent that's being set in this 
case. So should you.

Mr. Black is a lawyer in Florida.
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