Bad Journalism at WSJ

Judge Donald Cabell, a judge in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, ruled favorably in a petition by federal prosecutors–acting on a request of extradition from Japan—that led to the arrest of two ex-Green Berets.

Their crime: assisting Carlos Ghosun, ex-Nissan CEO, escape from Japan to Lebanon.

This report appeared in the WSJ (and other media) for May 21, a day that coincided with the guilty plea coerced by judges in the same court from Lori Loughlin.

WSJ reporters, Mark Maremont and Nick Kostove, told this story without a word of comment on the actions of these Massachusetts jurists who are well known “hanging judges.”

Nor do Mark Maremont and Nick Kostove report  the names of federal prosecutors who brought this to a federal court. Most important, they did not connect this ruling to the “Varsity Blues” as examples of prosecutorial overreach.

In other words, these two WSJ reporters don’t understand our “attorney problem,” the antagonism of federal justices and prosecutors in Massachusetts to wealthy, conservative and in this case, antagonism to military defendants. Japan’s economy is one of the largest in the world and an ally of the United States. But these ex-Green Berets are Americans and deserve a heariing with a jury of their peers, not peremptory extradition.

Japan is a protectionist nation that is suspicious, even hostile to foreigners and the goods and services they export to Japan. Giving Japan its way in extradition is a step too far,  and the Wall Street Journal should know better.

Nor do these WSJ reporters observe that these defendants were stupid enough to choose Massachusetts as their domicile.