MONROVIA, Liberia, Nov. 12 -- In late August, two pregnant women walked out of Monrovia Central Prison, the overcrowded jail on the Atlantic shore that Liberians call South Beach. Kebbeh Pewee and Annie Kollie had been held there while awaiting the outcome of their cases.

By Rodney D. Sieh

Their release drew attention only because of who was in the same prison. Former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor, jailed in Liberia's largest-ever cocaine investigation, had met the women inside. Her office said she had helped pay for their freedom. The Ministry of Justice said a judge had already ordered them released.

Whichever account is right, the episode showed something that rarely makes headlines. For most Liberians caught up in the justice ...