It has largely passed under the radar screen, but Stephanie Rose, who was the deputy chief of the criminal division in the U.S. attorney’s office in northern Iowa at the time of the Agriprocessors immigration and Rubashkin prosecutions, has been nominated by President Obama to be a federal judge.
Controversy has surrounded those governmental efforts, with some criticizing them as miscarriages of justice. So it is dismaying that Ms. Rose’s confirmation hearings have been all but ignored by Jewish organizations.
In fact, Senate confirmation hearings are a traditional venue for interested parties to raise concerns about a nominee’s past record. Indeed, Ms. Rose has been questioned very closely about the en-masse prosecution of 306 workers and fast track hearings in temporary courtrooms on a cattle fairground, featuring wholesale plea agreements. But it does not appear there was any serious focus on the planning of the rather unusual original immigration raid or her role in it. Further, it does not appear she was even asked about her role in the Rubashkin prosecutions or about the prosecutions themselves.
Curiously, after the events in Postville in 2008, Ms. Rose was nominated for and was confirmed as U.S. attorney in Northern Iowa. That too seemed to have passed without notice.