Posted on 02/10/2004 9:52:43 AM PST by BlessedByLiberty
Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - Congresswoman asked for leniency for worker's son convicted of rape
Rep. Lynn Woolsey apologized yesterday for "making a horrible situation worse" by asking for leniency for an acquaintance who raped a Marin teenager.
"I am writing to apologize to the young woman from Terra Linda who was the victim of sexual assault at the hands of Stewart Pearson," Woolsey, D-Petaluma, said in a brief written statement to the Independent Journal.
"I did send a letter during the sentencing phase to (Marin Superior Court) Judge Terrence Boren, explaining that I knew Mr. Pearson's family, thought highly of them, and believed they could provide him with a strong support system."
Woolsey's apology followed an IJ report Saturday detailing her Dec. 2 letter to Boren on behalf of Pearson, 20, of San Rafael, who raped a 17-year-old.
Pearson pleaded guilty on Sept. 11, 2003, to raping the teenager. A month before Pearson's sentencing, Woolsey used her official letterhead to ask for leniency, saying he had a "promising life ahead of him."
Pearson's mother, Tondrea Pearson, is a case worker in Woolsey's San Rafael office.
Woolsey's apology received a tepid response from the Marin County District Attorney's office, which had been highly critical of Woolsey's intervention, and women's rights advocates.
"An interested party should be able to express their opinion," said Marin County District Attorney Paula Kamena in a statement through her assistant yesterday. "It is a personal choice as to whether a person would do this on an informed or uninformed basis.
Woolsey initially asserted that she was not privy to the facts of the case when she wrote the letter, which Marin County Deputy District Attorney Alan Charmatz said earlier was "somewhat disturbing."
Woolsey initially defended her actions, claiming she wrote the letter as a "character witness" for Pearson's family, not for him. But women's rights advocates were highly critical.
In July 2003, a 17-year-old Terra Linda girl awoke as Pearson tried to knock her unconscious by smothering her face with a rag soaked in household cleaning chemicals. He then raped her, according to court records.
The teenage victim testified that Pearson, whom she had known since middle school, said he had done the same thing before, and that he intended to do the same thing again.
Pearson was sentenced to eight years in prison, the maximum allowed under a plea deal in which other charges of sodomy and assault were dropped.
Gloria Young, executive director of United Against Sexual Assault, a rape crisis center in Santa Rosa, said she welcomed Woolsey's mea culpa.
"I am pleased with her apology," she said. "I am gratified that she recognizes that she has made the situation worse by supporting the perpetrator. The victims are the ones who need help in our society in getting through the healing process.
"(Woolsey) has always had a strong victims rights agenda, which is why I was puzzled and surprised that she intervened.
"(The victim) will have a long struggle to get over the trauma of rape," Young said. "Which is why we need to support victims in our society. They are the ones that need the support systems, not the rapist."
Renn Vara, Woolsey's opponent in the Democratic March primary, chided Woolsey for writing the letter, but said the apology was appropriate.
"I do think that a letter coming out the congressional office is another example of Lynn being asleep at the wheel," Vara said. "It was inappropriate from the beginning that she wrote the letter, so the fact that she wrote this (apology) letter is good."
But others would like to see Woolsey investigated for misconduct.
On Saturday, San Anselmo resident Chris Warner, who served as associate counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce in the early 1980s, lodged a complaint with two federal ethics committees, suggesting a probe into the Woolsey letter.
"I think that members of congress are held to standards where they cannot use their offices for personal gain," he said. "It does not appear that the use of her stationary was for any official use, but for personal use. I think it is worthy of investigation and review."
Warner has asked the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, which reviews questions of impropriety by house members, to look into whether Woolsey's letter violated rules barring lawmakers from giving constituents preferential treatment. In addition, he has asked the Committee on House Administration, to review whether Woolsey's letter abused mail privileges.
John Vargo, a spokesman for the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, and Jack Dail, staff director for the Franking Commission, a six-member bi-partisan committee that reviews mail rules, declined comment, citing confidentiality rules.
Bruce Cain, director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of "The Personal Vote," a book about the congressional offices trying to secure votes through constituency work, said although Woolsey's letter appeared unusual, and perhaps poor judgment, it was not unethical.
"It was probably bad political judgment," Cain said. "But it is not unethical. Usually you are petitioning administrators, not the court. Normally, when you are doing case work, you are trying to help one citizen, but it is not at the expense of another citizen."
No, I'm not falling for this one. You Freepers are such good jokers!
I suppose the letter was sent to the sentencing judge.
What I don't see mentioned is how much of an influence it really was.
If it was an influence, WHY?
That's my take also.
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