Matt Thornhill Should Step Down
Before he is even sworn into office as an Associate Circuit Judge, judge-elect Matt Thornhill has stirred quite a bit of controversy.There are old republicans in the county that didn't quite care for Thornhill from the beginning -- partially because his comments at a Pachyderm Club meeting went way beyond where they should have gone -- and then because he tried to backpedal on them at his next visit.
Now comes his resignation as a prosecutor, because he allegedly solicited and accepted what can only be described as bribes of sports memorabilia in exchange for lessening charges against a defendant in a drug case in which he was prosecuting.
Even Prosecuting Attorney Jack Banas seems ready to condemn his former employee, by requesting that while on the bench, Thornhill be excused from hearing any and all criminal cases.
Given the sordid past of some high-profile members of the Republican Party lately, Randy "Duke" Cunningham and Mark Foley come to mind, and locally, former St. Peters Mayor Shawn Brown, it is time for the Republican Party to demand, if it is found that he did what is alleged, that Thornhill resign from the bench.
The Republican Party has always been a rather unforgiving party when it comes to misdeeds from within. The party has not stood steadfastly by the Cunninghams and Foleys of the world, and nobody came to the aid of Brown. All resigned in disgrace, as they should have.
Now it is time for the party to take a hard line stance on Thornhill. This serious lack of ethics has no place on the bench, and he should not be rewarded for his involvment.
posted by Administrator at 10:28 AM
1 Comments:
It would appear there is much more to this story than we have been provided. The Journal article certainly made it appear as though it is perhaps a personal bias Banas has against Thornhill.
To wit: "To avoid a conflict of interest, Banas had two outside agencies investigate the allegation: the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, with the help of the FBI, and the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Both agencies decided not to file criminal charges.
Banas said he then met with Thornhill and explained that there would not be criminal charges. But he said he also told Thornhill this: Banas would conduct his own investigation to see if Thornhill violated office policies and procedures, which would be a civil matter, not a criminal matter."
This certainly makes it sound as though Banas didn't like the outcome of the "independent" review because the outcome didn't match his thoughts. You know as well as I that if there had been some criminal conduct present, Catherine Hanaway would not have been reluctant to bring charges against a fellow Republican. Likewise, I am certain that McCullough would not have hesitated to attempt to embarass Republicans in St Charles County either.
It would appear that perhaps your call should be expanded to say that if Thornhill is guilty, which apparently he is not from the independent review, then he should resign. On the other hand, if Banas has some personal agenda he is pursuing, then he should resign.
In either case, Republicans would be standing up for what is right. At this time, you are only calling for one side to be disciplined when it may in fact be the wrong party.
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