Steven Hatfill: The Scape Goat Who Survived

During the Anthrax scare in 2001, the US government was at a complete loss when it came to finding out who sent the anthrax, or for that matter where the anthrax came from. So, when they came across government scientist Steven Hatfill, they decided that he was their man, without actually saying that.

New York Times:

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Friday that it would pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Steven J. Hatfill, a former Army biodefense researcher intensively investigated as a “person of interest” in the deadly anthrax letters of 2001.

The positive angle:

“The good news is that we still live in a country where a guy who’s been horribly abused can go to a judge and say ‘I need your help,’ and maybe it takes a while, but he gets justice,” Mr. Grannis said.

I look forward to a government that doesn't depend on scape goats.

[Update: The post previously misspelled Hatfill's name as Hatfield]