Letters to the Editor
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Justice
I'm more than delighted that the jury did the right thing, in fact I'm tickled over it. And I hope that these criminals will be punished for what they've done not only to their employees and investors but to society as a whole. These kind of crimes have a far larger ripple effect throughout society than does someone holding up a bank in a stocking. However, that said, I don't support jail time for these kind of crimes. These are very bright, very well connected, very resourceful, very powerful people. All of those resources that they can bring to bear should be put to good use to improve our economic and legal injustices throughout society. They should be sent into our most abandoned and dysfunctional neighborhoods, our struggling small businesses, our most broken down school systems and required to bring their considerable talents to bear on the problems there. What shape or form these things would take could be worked out. We're a creative people and we can come up with a way to make it happen. They should be tagged, beepered, watched, audited, controlled and have to report to a parole officer, what? weekly? daily? whatever, but they should have to produce something of value or face actual jail time. This to me is a far more intelligent approach to justice in these situations than merely locking these guys away at further expense and drain on the public pocket, with no more satisfaction for society in the situation than, what? revenge? I'd love to see us as a society move away from our revenge obsessions and fantisizes that passes for justice.