RIP Richard A. Sprague

[James DiEugenio]

Thanks for that Ron.

I do no think that  list of luminaries will ever be matched again.

 

[Ron Bulman]

On 4/9/2021 at 10:28 PM, James DiEugenio said:

Thanks for that Ron.

I do no think that  list of luminaries will ever be matched again.

 

Thank you for your work.  Lisa as well and so many more who contributed.

Sprague was, and still is an American Hero imho.  He fought the good fight.

His refusal to sign the agreement with the CIA doomed him and the HSCA.

It was a middle finger to suppression of the Truth.

Just like with Garrison they brought out whatever it took to bring him down.

 

Edited yesterday at 02:40 AM by Ron Bulman

[Gene Kelly]

Sprague was a Philadelphia legend ... he would've gotten to the bottom of the JFK case (no doubt) and it would've taken all the CIA could bring to the table to ultimately stop him.  He was - in a word - relentless, and took on all comers.  I once heard him speak, and he highly respected in legal circles. Richard Aurel Sprague - the middle name is short for Aurelius, as in Marcus - Penn Law ’53, son of a Jewish mother and stepson of a Quaker father, first tasted power when he joined the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office in 1958. He was an assistant to Philadelphia District Attorney Arlen Specter (his mentor) from 1966-1974 ... a Democrat in a Republican's office. During the 17 years he worked in the district attorney's office, he prosecuted more than 10,000 cases, and won 69 out of 70 first-degree murder trials. It was written that he so admired his boss (Specter) that he turned down an offer from Democratic leaders to run for DA; the Democrats then nominated F. Emmett Fitzpatrick, who trounced Specter in the election ... and later fired Sprague.  Sprague was a pallbearer at Specter's funeral in 2012.  I loved this quote:

He represented heir and philanthropist John E. du Pont in his headline-grabbing 1996 murder case for the slaying of wrestler David Schultz, mounting an insanity defense. When prosecutors questioned how du Pont could be insane when he signed a contract agreeing to pay a $1 million retainer to his lawyer, Mr. Sprague responded: “That was his one moment of lucidity.”