Injustice June 29, 2007
Posted by clucas30 in Law.trackback
So Siegelman and Scrushy were hauled-off to prison today. Siegelman got 7 years and Scrushy got 6 years. First, let me say that my personal opinion is that these are two bad characters. I think both are/was crooked and I think Scrushy should’ve definitely went to prison on all of the Healthsouth fraud charges previously waged against him. However, neither of these guys should be going to prison on these charges. Do I think that Scrushy gave money to Siegelman’s lottery campaign with the intent (either implicit or expicit) that it would buy him a spot on the State Certificate of Need Board? Absolutely. Is that dirty and unethical? Absolutely. Should it be a felony that sends someone to prison? Absolutely NOT!
Folks, this is politics. Should politics be this dirty? No. However, how can anyone possibly “prove” that what happened with Scrushy and Siegelman is any different than most scenarios where campaign contributions are made. There are some out there that make political contributions because they are a friend of a particular politician, some that do it just because they are patriotic and want to support our way of government, etc….however, most do it because they expect something in return. One has to use his own moral compass to decide when that “line” is crossed, however, the criminal justice system shouldn’t be splitting hairs and making that call. Consider how Mr. Webster defines the word “Politics” – (a) the art or science concerned with guiding or influencing governmental policy; (b) the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government. Scrushy was giving money to a legitimate political campaign fund in hopes of “guiding or influencing” the State Certificate of Need Board. If there were an explicit agreement between the two of them, that was wrong. Again, it doesn’t rise to the level of a felony.
It’s so ironic for Scrushy. Injustice got him off of the hook in his first criminal trial, and now injustice sends him to prison. Some would say that the end result is all that matters and that the end justifies the means. Folks, we can’t think like this when it comes to the criminal justice system. Otherwise, our constitutional rights fall in the trash can. These are two bad characters, but we can’t put people in prison for that…
It’s a sad day for our criminal justice system. We do have the best system in the world, but it certainly does have it’s faults.
Although the legal system may have failed in the recent Siegelman/Scrushy case, Justice did prevail. I too agree that it is not good for our prosecutors to use such means to gain ‘payback’ for Scrusy avoiding prosecution in the HealthSouth case. What matters at the end of the day is that a man (Scrushy) who had robbed many people of their hard-earned savings, retirement and investments got his due. I’m just glad that our legal system didn’t quit and just say ‘Sorry, that’s how the system works’. Above all the man hides behind a charade of ‘holiness’ that I think is blashpemy at its worst. I have no remorse for this guy. I do have some remorse for Siegelman in regards to the severity of his punishment, but what’s the old saying, ‘If you lie down with dogs, you’ll wake up with fleas”.