You read that right, my friends. A grand jury in Willacy County, Texas has indicted Richard Cheney, currently our Vice President in charge of torture and abuse of prisoners, for — well — for abuse of prisoners. Really. Just not the prisoners you think:
A Texas grand jury has charged US Vice-President Dick Cheney for “organised criminal activity” related to alleged abuse of private prison inmates.
The indictment says Mr Cheney – who has invested $85m (£56m) in a company that holds shares in for-profit prisons – conspired to block an investigation. […]
The indictment was overseen by county District Attorney Juan Guerra, an outgoing prosecutor at the end of his term of office.
He cites the case of Gregorio De La Rosa, who died on 26 April 26, 2001 inside a private prison in Willacy County, Texas.
The grand jury in Willacy County, near the US-Mexico border, accuses Mr Cheney of committing “at least misdemeanour assaults” of inmates by allowing other inmates to assault them.
It said there was a “direct conflict of interest” because Mr Cheney had influence over federal contracts awarded to prison companies. […]
The three-page indictment also alleges that former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales “used his position…to stop the investigations as to the wrong doings.”
I guess someone is going to need a pardon from his subordinate. I mean for something other than war crimes. Leave it to Cheney to find new ways to embarrass the United States, his high office and the Republican party. Notice I didn’t say he embarrassed himself. If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past eight years it is that Dick Cheney is beyond shame.
To be honest, I suspect that this indictment will be dismissed. I’ll bet you know the old joke about how a prosecutor could get a a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. For that reason alone, I’m sure Dick can find a judge in Texas to take care of this little problem for him. Nonetheless, who knew that Cheney was directly profiting off of investments in the private prison industry. Disaster capitalism at it’s best, wouldn’t you agree?
