claim to have new evidence that willrnshow that Degan was killed while retreatingrn(and may even have been off ofrnWeaver’s property when he was shot),rnthe possibility of a conviction in Harris’srncase seems “fairly slim (as the extremelyrnlow bail—$10,000—attests). Far morerninteresting is the decision of BoundaryrnCounty prosecutor Denise Woodbury tornindict FBI sharpshooter Lon Horiuchirnon manslaughter charges. Horiuchi, whornkilled Vicki Weaver as she held her babyrnin her arms, has become a symbol of anrnarrogant federal government that refusesrnto hold its agents accountable. Less thanrna week before, the Justice Departmentrnhad declined to prosecute Horiuchi orrnany of the FBI officials involved in drawingrnup the “shoot on sight” rules of engagement.rnThat decision seems to havernspurred Woodbury to action. In fact, thernBoundary County indictments werernhanded down August 21 in order to beatrnIdaho’s 5-year statute of limitations onrnmanslaughter charges.rnA county prosecuting a federal agentrnis a rare—perhaps unprecedented—rnevent, but Woodbury’s decision to go afterrnHoriuchi could not have come at arnbetter time. With good reason, the publicrnperceives federal law enforcementrnagencies as running amok. Everyonernknows about Ruby Ridge and Waco; butrnthere are an increasing number of localrnand regional cases that haven’t made thernNew York Times or the nightly news.rnIn a recent case, profiled in the VancouverrnColumbian and the Portland Oregonian,rn20 agents of the IRS, the FBI,rnand the BATF—with guns drawn—^burstrninto the home of Jim Bell of Vancouver,rnWashington. The agents converged onrnthe house in a dozen armored vehicles,rnconfiscated Bell’s computer, and told thernnews media he was “armed and dangerous.”rnHis crime: he had posted an essayrnon the Internet which discussed a libertarian-rnstyle scheme to dismantle governmentrnand to handle issues of securityrnand justice through private means.rnAs the number of federal law enforcementrnofficers increases (approximatelyrnten percent of all law enforcement officersrnare federal agents) and the numberrnof crimes that fall under federal jurisdictionrnrises, such cases become more common.rnAcross the country, the DEA, thernBATF, and the FBI, with or without thernassistance of local authorities, all too frequentlyrnburst into private residences onrnthe basis of incorrect or incomplete informationrnsupplied by paid informants.rnformer business partners, or neighborsrnwith a grudge. Federal agents occasionallyrnissue an apology when an innocentrnperson’s home is invaded, but apologiesrndon’t repair property that has been damagedrnor bring back people who have beenrnkilled. As in the Ruby Ridge case, thernFBI, BATF, and DEA refuse to disciplinernthose responsible, and Janet Reno’s JusticernDepartment declines to prosecute.rnThe Justice Department responded tornHoriuehi’s indictment by saying thatrnfederal prosecutors and the prosecutorsrnin Boundary County “enforce differentrncriminal laws, using different legal standards.”rnThat’s why this case is so important.rnAt the state and local level, the presumptionrnof innocence still applies torncitizens, and willful misconduct by lawrnenforcement officers is something to bernpunished, not rewarded. Unlike FBI DirectorrnLouis Freeh, whose main concernrnis that Horiuehi’s “rights as a federal lawrnenforcement officer are fully protected,”rnBoundary County prosecutor Woodburyrnrealizes that federal agents don’t have arnright to do wrong. If other local and staternprosecutors follow in her footsteps andrnindict federal agents for misdeeds inrntheir jurisdictions, perhaps the emergingrnfederal police state can be stifled in its infancy.rn—Scott P. RichertrnA SOUTHERN TRADITION endedrnon August 19, when Beth Anne Hogan, arn17-year-old ponytailed blonde fromrnJunction City, Oregon, signed the VirginiarnMilitary Institute’s matriculationrnbook. With help from Janet Reno’s JusticernDepartment and the U.S. SupremernCourt, Miss Hogan and some 30 otherrnyoung women have done to VMI whatrnthe corpulent Shannon Faulkner and herrnsistren did to the Citadel. Alumni fromrnboth schools are no doubt less thanrnthrilled about the prospect of perfumernand petticoats transforming the Rat Linernand Hell Week into exercises in merernpowder-puffery. Old Stonewall must bernturning in his grave.rnBut there is hope for us traditionalists.rnTwo VMI grads. Dr. Michael J. Guthriernand Stanley E. Poston, have come to thernrescue with their plans to found thernSouthern Military Institute (SMI). SMI,rnaccording to Guthrie, will be an “overtlyrnpolitically incorrect institution,” emphasizingrnthe military traditions of the Confederacy.rn”We intend to create an institution,”rnGuthrie claims, “that willrnpreserve the traditions of both VirginiarnMilitary Institute and the Citadel.” Accordingrnto a detailed written proposalrnthat was made public at the annualrnmeeting of the League of the South (formerlyrnthe Southern League) in Biloxi inrnJune, SMI will need $100 million in orderrnto open its doors to 1,000 cadets as anrnall-male. Christian institution in the yearrn2002. The present plan is to build SMIrnin the hills of northeast Alabama and torngive preference in admission to youngrnmen from the South.rnNot surprisingly, the naysayers are outrnin full chorus against Guthrie, Poston,rnand Thomas Moncure, Jr., an ally whornquit the VMI Board of Visitors to protestrnthe admission of women. The NationalrnOrganization of Women reportedly hasrnthreatened to sue; Guthrie’s hometownrnnewspaper in Alabama, the HuntsvillernTimes, ran a column highly critical of thernproposal; and Dan Huntley of the CharlotternObserver wrote: “With more thanrntwo years to go, the prize for the worstrnidea of the new millennium has to be thernplans for a private all-male academy thatrnemphasizes the military traditions of thernConfederacy.”rnLiberals and their friends are undoubtedlyrnrankled by SMI’s plan to bernmale. Christian, and Southern. Thisrnmost politically incorrect trinity is, ofrncourse, out of step with their notions ofrnprogressive egalitarianism, which explainsrnwhy, when VMI and the Citadelrndecided to take on the Justice Departmentrnand the Supreme Court while stillrnaccepting public funds, their fates werernsealed. VMI Superintendent JosiahrnBunting III tried to put the best spin herncould on the emasculation of his schoolrnwhen he told the incoming “Rats” (nornlonger “Brother Rats” for obvious reasons):rn”VMI does not care if you are poorrnor rich . . . white or black, female or male,rnTaiwanese or Finn, or Virginian. We onlyrncare about your heart, your integrity,rnand your determination.” But the actingrnDean of Faculty, Colonel Alan Farrell,rnwas a bit more honest in his assessmentrnof the day: “Something precious,” hernlamented, “has just been ripped fromrnus.” Indeed it had, but that was the goalrnof the Clinton Justice Department (andrnthe Bush Justice Department, which initiatedrnthe lawsuit) all along.rnNow that VMI and the Citadel are nornlonger VMI and the Citadel, the time isrnright for the Southern Military Institute.rnThreats will surely be forthcoming fromrnMiss Reno’s misnamed Justice Depart-rnNOVEMBER 1997/7rnrnrn