A grand jury in South Texas indicted U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and former attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Tuesday for "organized criminal activity" related to alleged abuse of inmates in private prisons. Full Story »
Posted by Chris Finnie
This is the kind of Hot Lead that is irresistible. Kudos to Reuters for actually obtaining a copy of the indictment, and for noting that the indictment has not yet "been seen by a judge, who could dismiss it.." From a journalistic point of view, the author(s) need to be more clear about the role of a judge in "seeing" the indictment, and in evaluating the putative merit of the case against the high profile targets, Cheney and Gonzales. Journalistically, it is important to "consider the source," and Reuters should tell its readers more about county DA Guerra, who has a controversial history.
This story is all over the Internet now, including reports by CNN and local news (Channel 5). Most of the stories were printed before the indictment itself was released to the public, and as this story reminds us, it has not yet been signed off by a judge, who could dismiss the case. There is a huge amount of interest in this story, which badly needs follow-up.