Punishment for the Innocent

David Greenberg’s rundown of Rudy Giuliani’s frightening authoritarianism reminds me of one episode from my youth that I’d forgotten: “In 1999, for example, he directed (without the City Council’s permission) the police to permanently confiscate the cars of people charged with drunken driving — even if the suspects were later acquitted.” Greenberg describes this as “Cheney-esque” but while the Bush administration has certainly been happy to act with a cavalier indifference to the guilt or innocence of the people they’re surveilling, detaining without counsel, torturing, etc. I think even they have never claimed the right to punish people who’ve been certified as innocent.