Forty seven Congressmen have thus far written to Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate this case for alleged misconduct and fairness of Rubashkin′s 27-year sentence.
Following the filing of this appeal, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) filed amicus briefs supporting Rubashkin′s appeal for a new trial. What has united the three groups is the involvement of the judge in the case with the prosecution, as argued by Rubashkin’s defense team, which, according to ACLU′s Iowa legal director Randall Wilson, “immediately gave the appearance of unfairness.†The ACLU brief says: “Mr. Rubashkin’s conviction should be vacated and he should get his ‘day in court,’ with a tribunal that is not an arm of the prosecution. Due Process demands it. The Separation of Powers Doctrine demands it.â€
Subsequent to the filing of the appeal, in a rare move, the government not only denied consent to the filing of the three amicus briefs, they filed a Resistance with the Eight Circuit, effectively attempting to block the court from accepting the brief. Shortly following a law review published in Bloomberg Law Reports, the government filed a brief to withdraw their opposition to the amicus briefs.