Tyrannical Alabama Prosecutor Rules With Iron Fist

For three decades, Douglas Valeska has served as chief prosecutor for Alabama’s Houston and Henry Counties, presiding over the justice system with singular power. A New York Times investigation reveals a broken system where pre-trial diversions are used to fill Valeska’s office coffers, often at the expense of poor, black residents. “Diversion was created nationwide to spare first-time or low-risk defendants the harsh consequences of a criminal record and to give prosecutors more time to go after dangerous offenders,” the Times writes. “But things have played out different in places like southeast Alabama’s Wiregrass Country, where an investigation by the New York Times found that diversion resembles a dismissal-for-sale scheme, available only to those with money and, in some cases, favor.” Though his circuit is largely poor and rural, Valeska’s diversion fees are among the highest in the country.

In Dothan, the seat of Houston county, one-third of the residents are black, but they make up two-thirds of those arrested. In the 90s, Valeska had a string of convictions overturned for illegally striking blacks from the jury pool. “From Doug’s perspective, black people are willing to consider the gray areas and we don’t want them on juries,” Brooke Ethridge, who worked with Valeska on three death penalty cases, told the Times. The Times also found many instances in which it appears Valeska twisted or broke the rules to favor people he knew personally, or who contributed to his election campaigns.