Editorial: Wrongful firing suit will get a full airing

Friday, March 2, 2001 | 8:46 a.m.

It is encouraging that District Judge James Mahan has refused to dismiss a wrongful termination lawsuit against Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa. The suit, which has stirred up allegations that Del Papa conducted an unlawful intelligence probe of top gaming regulators, was filed by Mike Anzalone, a former investigator for the attorney general's office. Anzalone has accused Del Papa of forcing him to resign in 1996 because he refused to participate in the investigation, which among others targeted former state Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible, a political adversary of Del Papa's.

In denying the attorney general's request to toss out the lawsuit, Mahan even likened the case to the Watergate scandal, noting that you can't prove anything unless you can crack the conspiracy. So far the public, mainly through the investigative reporting of the Sun's Jeff German, has learned much about how this once-secret probe spun out of control. But now Anzalone will get a trial to air his allegations, and a jury will decide once and for all whether Del Papa abused the power of her office.