Harkin: Criticism of U.S. attorney candidate misplaced

Stephanie Rose

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin believes that recent criticism being placed at the feet of the woman he recommended to be the next U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Iowa is severely misplaced.

The questions being raised about Stephanie Rose, a 12-year veteran prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office that Harkin recommended for promotion, stem from her involvement in the criminal prosecution of more than 300 immigrant detainees, taken from the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville during a May 2008 federal raid.

“We looked into this in great detail [while considering the recommendation of Rose for the U.S. Attorney post],” Harkin said by phone on Thursday. “We contacted lawyers that were involved on the defense side during the hearings in Waterloo. The lawyers, who provided defense during that event, have come out with a letter in support of Rose’s nomination.”

The letter, which was provided to the Iowa Independent by the senator’s staff, is dated April 17 and signed by 11 defense attorneys that represented detainees following the federal immigration raid at Agriprocessors in Postville. It is addressed to Harkin at his Washington, D.C., address and reads as follows:

As criminal defense attorneys who are members of the Criminal Justice Act panel here in the Northern District of Iowa, and who had all participated in the representation of individuals prosecuted last May as part of the Agriprocessors Plant raid, we feel compelled to write your office on behalf of the Stephanie Rose nomination for U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa.

During the process of our representation of Postville clients Stephanie Rose was the primary contact for defense attorneys. She worked incredibly long hours and exhibited a level of competence and ability that would be hard to overstate. She was there on the Cattle Congress grounds virtually around-the-clock and showed familiarity with a number of individual client circumstances when contacted by defense counsel to discuss potential plea alternatives.

She described the areas where the local U.S. Attorney’s Office was allowed to negotiate and vary from the plea proposals that had been approved at the national level. In those cases where adjustments could be made to accommodate particular circumstances, she did so in order to ensure that justice was done in each individual case.

Ms. Rose also ensured that defense counsel had complete access to their clients by acting as a buffer with Homeland Security, who were in charge of the housing and security of our clients. She further coordinated with the local jails that housed defendants to allow for maximum access by defense attorneys in order for us to provide complete representation.

Based upon our involvement in the Postville representation, it was not Stephanie Rose’s decision to conduct the Postville Raid. She was not involved in the major policy decisions that led to the raid. She did not make the decision to fast track these cases, nor did she have any part in how the individuals were to be housed. In addition, she did not make the decision regarding what charges were to be brought against these individuals. With the limited discretion that she had regarding the circumstances and particularly the plea agreements, Ms. Rose exercised her judgment admirably and very favorably to defendants.

Any criticism about Stephanie Rose apparently comes from those who have never had a criminal case with her, and instead represent a blanket disagreement with the Immigration policies and statutes of the United States.

(signed) Alfred E. Willett, Stephen A. Swift, Michael K. Lahammer, John D. Jacobsen, Brian D. Johnson, Chris Clausen, Rick L. Sole, John Bishop, Anne Laverty, David Mullin and Michael Lindeman

“These are the individuals who represented detainees from Agriprocessors and were actually involved in that process,” Harkin said. “They are giving Stephanie Rose the highest praise for how she conducted herself throughout the process in Waterloo.”

Harkin insists that Rose had no role in any major policy decisions related to the Postville raid.

“She was not involved in the decision to undertake the enforcement action,” he said. “She was not involved in the decision to temporarily house them at the fairgrounds. She had no role in the decision to use ‘fast track’ procedures, no role in deciding what criminal charges to bring, and no role in what plea agreements to offer.”

Rose, who has most recently been serving as deputy criminal chief in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, was called called upon to assist in the prosecution of the Agriprocessors detainees. According to information obtained by Harkin’s staff, all career prosecutors in the office were asked to assist. Rose was told roughly four weeks before the raid took place in Postville to clear her calendar, but was not given specifics of the case. It was not until shortly before the action that Rose, as well as other prosecutors, were given details.

Her participation in the aftermath of the raid was limited to 11 days — the criminal proceedings in the makeshift courtrooms on the Waterloo fairgrounds and follow-up meetings with detainees and their counsel. The plea agreements she presented were pre-written, and Rose had “extremely limited authority” to deviate from their terms. Harkin’s staff concluded that she did not have discretion to offer shorter prison sentences as a part of the plea agreements, even if she felt a shorter sentence was warranted.

Nearly 400 detainees were taken from Postville, driven about 80 miles to the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo and held in temporary bunkers there. The court, which has two primary offices in the state, created make-shift facilities within the fairgrounds so that defendants could be quickly charged, offered plea agreements and sentenced. Within 10 days, 76 percent of those detained had already been convicted of wrongdoing.

The speed of the convictions, which has been labeled as ‘fast-tracking’ by the U.S. Department of Justice, is just one aspect of the process that has drawn criticism. Some have charged that the workers, many of whom did not speak English, were denied an opportunity to discuss their case with an immigration attorney. Others have made charges concerning human rights violations. At least two individuals who took part in the process that began in Waterloo have taken a strong, if not belated, public stance against it.

“I show that the defendants, though not technically coerced, were the victims of systemic coercion,” wrote Peter Moyer, a judicial clerk for U.S. District Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.

Court interpreter Erik Camayd-Freixas wrote a 15-page essay based on his involvement in the prosecution of Agriprocessors detainees before testifying before a U.S. House immigration subcommittee.

“In my capacity as the court’s expert witness I observed that the arrest, prosecution and conviction of 297 undocumented workers from Postville was a process marred by irregularities at every step of the way, which combined to produce very lamentable results,” Camayd-Freixas told Congress.

Philadelphia attorney Dave Bennion and others who have come out against the recommendation appear to be frustrated not by those who participated in the process in Waterloo and later spoke out about it, but by individuals who participated and have not voiced objections. Bennion is particularly irked by reports that Rose viewed what transpired at the fairgrounds as successful.

“Anyone who is proud of what happened at Postville shouldn’t have a license to practice law, much less get a promotion out of it,” Bennion wrote on his blog.

Despite such criticisms, Harkin said he has no qualms about recommending Rose.

“I have the highest respect for Stephanie Rose and the highest confidence in her,” Harkin said. “Not only has she been an outstanding public prosecutor, but I believe she will be an outstanding U.S. Attorney.”

Harkin’s recommendation has been sent to the White House. If the Obama administration agrees, a notice will be sent to the U.S. Senate of Rose’s nomination for the position. Harkin and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley will have opportunity to file paperwork in relation to the nomination and then a Senate subcommittee can begin the confirmation process.

If confirmed, Rose will replace Matt Dummermuth, an attorney recommended by Grassley and appointed by then-President George W. Bush in January 2007. Although nominated by the Bush administration in December 2008, Dummermuth has never faced Senate confirmation.