Scott Crawford Sutherland, Ernie Fletcher's Nemesis In The Merit Hiring Case, BOLTS Jack "Pretty Boy Floyd" CONway's Office. "Rats" & "Sinking Ship"?
Prosecutor in hiring scandal to resign, leave Ky.
By ROGER ALFORD
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The prosecutor who headed a patronage probe that led to the political demise of a Kentucky governor is ending a 19-year career with the attorney general's office.
Scott Crawford Sutherland said Thursday he plans to go into private practice in Nashville, Tenn., when he resigns as an assistant attorney general on Jan. 31.
Sutherland worked with a special grand jury that looked into allegations that Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration had violated state law by rewarding political supporters with rank-and-file government jobs after he took office in 2003.
Governors have discretion to choose scores of high-level employees, but most other positions in state government are supposed to be protected from political influence.
The hiring scandal weakened Fletcher politically, and he lost a bid for re-election in 2007.
Sutherland said the grand jury investigation was important for state employees.
"These types of cases bring a public awareness to the fact that there is political patronage, and it affects the lives of everyday people," Sutherland said.
"I think that the state benefited from it," he said. "I think the public felt like the work the grand jury did was appropriate, that they identified a problem, and they addressed the problem."
The special grand jury indicted Fletcher in 2006 on misdemeanor charges that he was involved in a scheme to reward political supporters with protected state jobs. The charges were eventually dropped, though Fletcher acknowledged evidence in the case "strongly indicates wrongdoing by his administration."
Fletcher pardoned everyone else who was charged in the probe. He did not immediately return a phone call Thursday seeking comment about Sutherland's resignation.
Three other top aides to Attorney General Jack Conway also have announced their resignations over the past month.
Deputy Attorney General Dana Mayton, who has overseen day-to-day operations of the office for the past three years, has accepted a position at the University of Louisville as senior associate vice president for governmental relations and special assistant to the president. Her resignation is effective in mid-January.
Assistant Deputy Attorney General Janet Graham resigned last week to become the city of Lexington's law director. Assistant Deputy Attorney General Tad Thomas returned to private practice in Louisville in mid-December. Lisa Lang, a staff attorney who had replaced Thomas on an interim basis, also has resigned effective next week.
Sutherland, 46, has been one of the most high-profile prosecutors in the attorney general's office, launching his career by helping to win a murder and kidnapping conviction against a teenage gunman who killed a teacher and custodian and held his classmates hostage in a northeastern Kentucky high school in 1993.
Sutherland has prosecuted numerous public corruption cases in Kentucky involving elected and appointed officials.
Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2011/01/13/1597610/prosecutor-in-hiring-scandal-to.html#more#ixzz1AweL5yKX
By ROGER ALFORD
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The prosecutor who headed a patronage probe that led to the political demise of a Kentucky governor is ending a 19-year career with the attorney general's office.
Scott Crawford Sutherland said Thursday he plans to go into private practice in Nashville, Tenn., when he resigns as an assistant attorney general on Jan. 31.
Sutherland worked with a special grand jury that looked into allegations that Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration had violated state law by rewarding political supporters with rank-and-file government jobs after he took office in 2003.
Governors have discretion to choose scores of high-level employees, but most other positions in state government are supposed to be protected from political influence.
The hiring scandal weakened Fletcher politically, and he lost a bid for re-election in 2007.
Sutherland said the grand jury investigation was important for state employees.
"These types of cases bring a public awareness to the fact that there is political patronage, and it affects the lives of everyday people," Sutherland said.
"I think that the state benefited from it," he said. "I think the public felt like the work the grand jury did was appropriate, that they identified a problem, and they addressed the problem."
The special grand jury indicted Fletcher in 2006 on misdemeanor charges that he was involved in a scheme to reward political supporters with protected state jobs. The charges were eventually dropped, though Fletcher acknowledged evidence in the case "strongly indicates wrongdoing by his administration."
Fletcher pardoned everyone else who was charged in the probe. He did not immediately return a phone call Thursday seeking comment about Sutherland's resignation.
Three other top aides to Attorney General Jack Conway also have announced their resignations over the past month.
Deputy Attorney General Dana Mayton, who has overseen day-to-day operations of the office for the past three years, has accepted a position at the University of Louisville as senior associate vice president for governmental relations and special assistant to the president. Her resignation is effective in mid-January.
Assistant Deputy Attorney General Janet Graham resigned last week to become the city of Lexington's law director. Assistant Deputy Attorney General Tad Thomas returned to private practice in Louisville in mid-December. Lisa Lang, a staff attorney who had replaced Thomas on an interim basis, also has resigned effective next week.
Sutherland, 46, has been one of the most high-profile prosecutors in the attorney general's office, launching his career by helping to win a murder and kidnapping conviction against a teenage gunman who killed a teacher and custodian and held his classmates hostage in a northeastern Kentucky high school in 1993.
Sutherland has prosecuted numerous public corruption cases in Kentucky involving elected and appointed officials.
Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2011/01/13/1597610/prosecutor-in-hiring-scandal-to.html#more#ixzz1AweL5yKX
Labels: jack CONway
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 8:13 AM
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