Yesterday was a big day in town. Former House Speaker Tom Finneran, hands down one of the most powerful politicians in the Commonwealth for nearly a decade, plead not guilty at a preliminary hearing on federal perjury charges. Now, in case you've been living under a rock for the past couple years, Republican U.S. Attorney and possible gubernatorial hopeful Michael Sullivan has accused Finneran of lying about his involvement in the 2001 Massachusetts legislative redistricting plans. After the law was passed on Beacon Hill, a coalition of minority groups filed a lawsuit claiming the plan discriminated against minorities while protecting the interests of white incumbents. As the House Speaker at the time, Finneran testified that his only involvment in creating the plan was to appoint the redistricting committee. Sullivan, on the other hand, insists that in making this statement under oath, Finneran perjured himself because no House Speaker as powerful as Finneran could have been so removed from the process.

What Bostonist has always found interesting about this case is the political dynamics at play. If you look at other redistricting plans around the country that have faced legal and other challenges, it seems that it's usually the Republicans being accused by the Democrats of discriminating against minority voters. Now we have a Republican ally of President Bush siding with minority groups in the assertion that the de facto leader of the legislative Democrats sought to disenfranchise them!

Next thing you know, our Republican Governor will be parading himself as pro-choice!