"Today the governor was asked if Malak should resign."
Bill Clinton, Arkansas Governor
"I don't think that's a decision that I should make based on what I now know."
After the boys were killed, there was a huge outcry against Malak in Arkansas over his ruling that the boys had fallen asleep on the tracks due to marijuana intoxication. The ruling was widely ridiculed, and the families were appalled by it.
They had the bodies exhumed and brought in a well-respected medical examiner and pathologist from Atlanta, Georgia, for a second round of autopsies. That pathologist pointed out evidence that was later corroborated by employees in the Arkansas Medical Examiner's office. The evidence showed that both boys had wounds indicating they'd been murdered.
That evidence persuaded the Saline County grand jury to overturn Malak's ruling about the cause and manner of death. That drew a lot of attention to other Malak rulings. As Linda Ives campaigned to have him removed from office, other people began to come forward and bring to light other, equally questionable rulings he had made.
The public distrust of Malak became intense. Yet Bill Clinton steadfastly, resolutely refused to do anything to remove him from office. Dr. Joycelyn Elders was the head of the State Health Department at the time. She had authority regarding Malak's employment, but instead of removing him she was vocal in her support. So Malak stayed until just weeks before Bill Clinton announced he was going to run for President. At that point the landscape shifted dramatically.
After protesting that he would not resign, Malak suddenly did resign and was offered a job at the State Health Department, under Dr. Elders. I should add that Malak received a couple of raises between the time of his ruling on the boys' deaths and his subsequent removal as Medical Examiner.
No comments:
Post a Comment