Paul Minor denied leave for funeral
Imprisoned former Mississippi attorney Paul Minor won’t be able to attend his wife’s funeral Friday in New Orleans.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons had denied his request to attend the service, but Minor’s attorney had written an urgent letter Thursday to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to intervene. Holder replied in an e-mail to attorney Hiram Eastland Jr. late Thursday that Minor wouldn’t be allowed to go.
“I do not in any way fault the attorney general or the Justice Department for this denial,” Eastland said.
He said Holder and the agency brought “this entire bizarre issue front and center with the Bureau of Prisons.”
“The Bureau of Prisons, however, would not budge and based their denial on an antiquated, Draconian, anti-family policy of forcing a prisoner to choose between being with their wife while they are dying or after they have already passed away,” he said.
AP via Miami Herald 4/17/9
Magnolia Tribune
