Sen. Ted Stevens testified that he and his wife had “lots of things in our house that don’t belong to us” in his trial on charges that he’d failed to report tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts from an Alaskan company that sought his favor; he was found guilty, but charged prosecutorial misconduct (claims that seemed to have merit). Now NPR reports that the Justice Department it will drop all charges against Stevens:

Holder’s decision is said to be based on Stevens’ age ” he’s 85 ” and because Stevens is no longer in the Senate. Perhaps most importantly, Justice Department officials say Holder wants to send a message to prosecutors throughout the department that actions he regards as misconduct will not be tolerated.

Misconduct shouldn’t be tolerated.