This is the Kind of Case DOJ Should Pursue. Not Rentboy.

[+ quoththeraven]

Pennsylvania judges accept kickbacks, send kids to youth facility. Disgusting. Imo, first case mentioned didn't involve a crime; should have been covered by First Amendment.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13judge.html?mwrsm=Twitter

[+ sync]

I recall when this story broke. At the time I could find no words that would adequately describe the magnitude of my disgust. I still feel that way.

[+ quoththeraven]

I recall when this story broke. At the time I could find no words that would adequately describe the magnitude of my disgust. I still feel that way.

 

I had heard about it before too, but didn't remember where the judge(s) were from, so I'm assuming it's the same case. My guess is it is one of the many cases 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski mentions in Criminal Law 2.0. He has such an acute sense for prosecutorial BS that in one case, his mocking, sarcastic dissent in an appeal the government won (but shouldn't have, imo) led the government to let the defendant go free.

 

Anyone who thinks corruption doesn't occur, particularly at the state level, where fewer people are watching and judges and law enforcement are subject to more political pressure because of elections, is not only naive but enables those who are corrupt. That's why the public, as well as the authorities, need to pay attention to dissent and critique, not sweep it under the rug or pretend it doesn't exist.

[sincitymix]

Pennsylvania judges accept kickbacks, send kids to youth facility. Disgusting. Imo, first case mentioned didn't involve a crime; should have been covered by First Amendment.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13judge.html?mwrsm=Twitter

Wasn't this an episode on Law and Order SVU ?

[+ sync]

nyone who thinks corruption doesn't occur, particularly at the state level, where fewer people are watching and judges and law enforcement are subject to more political pressure because of elections, is not only naive but enables those who are corrupt. That's why the public, as well as the authorities, need to pay attention to dissent and critique, not sweep it under the rug or pretend it doesn't exist.

 

Exactly! More citizens of this country need to get off their dead butts and vote. A mere 33% of registered voters turning out for a major election is beyond disgraceful. Another peeve of mine is that a good many of the people who bitch about the criminal justice system are the very ones who will do anything and everything to evade jury duty, and then chastise jurors for their verdicts.

[MrMiniver]

Go after Hillary, leave the hookers alone!

[+ purplekow]

Go after Hillary, leave the hookers alone!

Nearly 25 years of attempts to pin something on Hillary and the Republicans have raised a lot of smoke without any fire. This thread was started to condemn prosecutorial mismanagement, not to encourage it.

[+ purplekow]

87 months for ruining hundreds of lives. Terrible. I hope the government is pursing compensation for the fraud. Let civil cases against these assholes begin.

[+ Keith30309]

This is astounding. I'm trying to fathom the cynicism... disregard for life... greed.... there's no other word than 'evil'... that it takes to be entrusted with a position of authority and moral stature and then use that to trade the lives of children for dollars. I've tried to comprehend some way that an intelligent person could rationalize doing this... "They should be sent away because they're 'bad'"... "It will be best for them in the long run"..."Someone else will do it so I may as well".

Nothing works.

There's no way that a rational, sane person could conceive of any remotely reasonable approximation of an iota of justification for anything they did. It defies comprehension.

 

Ordinarily you simply say "Power Corrupts" but to have acted so egregiously as this really requires that your moral baseline is zero and work downward from there.

 

Given the state of integrity of the executive and legislative branches, god help us retain some trust in the judicial process.

 

<end of rant>

[+ quoththeraven]

Wasn't this an episode on Law and Order SVU ?

 

Yes, there was, probably inspired by this case.

[jimboivyo]

Nearly 25 nearly of attempts to pin something on Hillary and the Republicans have raised a lot of smoke without any fire. This thread was started to condemn prosecutorial mismanagement, not to encourage it.

 

+1

[+ quoththeraven]

87 months for ruining hundreds of lives. Terrible. I hope the government is pursing compensation for the fraud. Let civil cases against these assholes begin.

 

Usually restitution is part of the punishment. To what extent it is possible depends on how much of the ill-gotten gains have been spent, what they have in other assets, and the effect using those assets might have on innocent third-parties (i.e., their families).

 

This is astounding. I'm trying to fathom the cynicism... disregard for life... greed.... there's no other word than 'evil'... that it takes to be entrusted with a position of authority and moral stature and then use that to trade the lives of children for dollars. I've tried to comprehend some way that an intelligent person could rationalize doing this... "They should be sent away because they're 'bad'"... "It will be best for them in the long run"..."Someone else will do it so I may as well".

Nothing works.

There's no way that a rational, sane person could conceive of any remotely reasonable approximation of an iota of justification for anything they did. It defies comprehension.

 

Ordinarily you simply say "Power Corrupts" but to have acted so egregiously as this really requires that your moral baseline is zero and work downward from there.

 

Given the state of integrity of the executive and legislative branches, god help us retain some trust in the judicial process.

 

<end of rant>

 

While I agree that judges, police, and elected officials should be held to higher standards, the idea that the most important thing in life is looking out for oneself and one's family and friends is all-pervasive. From worshipping celebrity and status to the belief that, say, embezzlement or extortion isn't really a big deal if you've had a hard life or unexpected expenses (for example, a sick child and no insurance) or that the best solution to a problem is to shoot at something, American culture is full of harmful messages.

 

To give you one small example, I learned recently that the physician and ex-military husband of a former partner at the law firm I worked for pled guilty and was (may still be) in jail for taking tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from a laboratory for steering patients there. He had already fully repaid the money prior to sentencing. He said at sentencing that he had never ordered unnecessary tests (which was alleged against other defendants) and apologized for letting everyone down (he was physician to the local schools and on the school board; his wife is now on the school board), but still. He had many, many character witnesses urging he not be sent to jail. Fortunately for the cause of even-handedness, the judge sent him to federal prison anyway.

 

I'm pretty sure his kids go to public school. His wife is a partner in a law firm. He's an internist. He has a fucking law degree himself. (That's where they met.) What the fuck did he need the money for? (I don't remember the exact numbers, but the total was in the $20,000-50,000 range.)

 

And while I'm not saying she knew or had reason to know, what does that say about their finances, and how can she stand to stand by him knowing that she may have benefited from dishonestly acquired money? I'm sorry, but if I were just a random client, her own possible irresponsibility or turning a blind eye might take her off my list of lawyers to consult, considering she owes a fiduciary duty to clients both with regard to representation and funds. Why take a chance when there are plenty of other lawyers around? And she's a damn good lawyer and a nice person who had trouble advancing in her career because she's female, although she's also the one who thought Jodie Foster's sexuality was a big deal.

 

Back to the story in question. I hope the Justice Department has frozen the ex-judges' bank accounts, seized their assets, and is pursuing forfeiture of ill-gotten gains to the fullest extent of the law. This is a case far more deserving of such action than the Rentboy case.