In Sandpoint, Idaho, officials are carrying out a campaign of Soviet-style persecution targeting an innocent, law-abiding 57-year-old quilt artist. Rita Hutchens has no criminal record - yet a rogue prosecutor and a corrupt local judiciary is seeking to send her to prison, or even confine her in a mental institution, because she has sought redress for a crime committed against her by an abusive police officer.

In November 2011, Rita was attacked on her own property by a police officer. Several months later, a judge ruled that the officer had no right to arrest Rita, let alone violently attack her in front of her house. When the City of Sandpoint refused Rita's damage claim, she announced her intention to file a lawsuit. When she went to City Hall to examine public documents, Rita was harassed and driven from the building. Shortly thereafter she was charged with criminal battery because she allegedly threw a ballpoint pen that ricocheted off a desk and hit a deputy clerk in the arm.

Unlike Rita, who needed medical attention after being assaulted by a cop, the "victim" in the alleged pen-throwing incident was completely unharmed. In fact, the "victim" didn't press charges. There is no evidence that Rita intended to cause anybody harm. With no victim, and no criminal intent, there should be no case - but Assistant Bonner County Prosecutor Shane Greenbank, who has been repeatedly slapped down by appellate courts for misconduct, filed charges and continues to escalate what can only be described as a campaign of retaliation, bullying, and harassment.

That campaign includes the hallmarks of a totalitarian police state - including a midnight arrest on a bogus bench warrant, and an order that Rita undergo a "psychiatric evaluation." This woman has seen her business ruined, her reputation destroyed in the local media, and has been left homeless and practically penniless.

Owing to the indifference - or even the guilty complicity -- of the local and national media, the people responsible for this outrage are confident that they will be able to ruin the life of an innocent woman and never be held accountable. There is some good news: The story has come to the attention of Fox News host John Stossel, who may give it the national exposure it deserves. In the meantime, it would be worthwhile to contact the local and county officials involved in this campaign of persecution and tell them that they are being watched - and that there WILL be consequences.

Shane Greenbank, c/o Bonner County Prosecutor's Office: 208.263.6714

sgreenbank@bcpros.org

Louis Marshall, Bonner County Prosecutor - 208.263.6714

Louis@bcpros.org

Scott Campbell, Sandpoint City Attorney - 208.263.0534

Deborah Heise, Bonner County Magistrate Judge - 208.265.1432 or 1434