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Monday, July 18, 2005
The weird turn pro: Christian leniency for Ebbers
I just don't get what's so Christian about Matt Friedeman's sentencing suggestion:Taxpayers, many of whom lost thousands, some hundreds of thousands, in WorldCom stock now must pay to feed, clothe, and house Ebbers as well as pay his dental and medical bills (the latter of which should be formidable since he already has a number of physical maladies, including a weakening heart).
If America's judicial system understood punishment, restoration and restitution (Christian principles, all), maybe something like the following could have happened:
- Acknowledged that Mr. Ebbers is of no danger to society.
- Made him live the rest of his life in his wife's home at his own expense having liquidated all his assets (including those yachts and mansions). An ankle bracelet such as Martha Stewart has worn, which could keep him inside his front door, would undoubtedly fit nicely.
- Required him to come up with some honest business from said domestic headquarters by which he could help repay those who lost their life savings in the WorldCom debacle.
- Ensured that all bills related to his punishment be incurred by him. All profits over and above his basic living expenses would go to pay restitution.
Instead, Ebbers goes off to jail to die. And we pay his expenses. And a vast amount of human potential rots away.
...I am from Mississippi, like Mr. Ebbers. This gives me two advantages -- it helps me see (like few other states could to the same extent) the jails that are already letting really dangerous guys go because the facilities are too full of others who are non-violent and who probably shouldn't be there if alternative sentencing were taken seriously.
... Now, he may be a crook although, testimony notwithstanding, I really doubt it.
First, some facts missing in Friedeman's piece:
On Tuesday, the judge denied Ebbers' bid for a new trial - a ruling in which she cited "strong" evidence supporting the conviction, including government witnesses who "outlined the fraud in painstaking detail."
On Monday, another judge gave her blessing to a settlement under which Ebbers must forfeit almost all his personal assets, including $5 million cash up front, to resolve a shareholder lawsuit.
That settlement will leave Ebbers' wife with about $50,000 of Ebbers' assets and a modest home in Jackson, Miss. A far more lavish family home in Brookhaven, Miss., will be sold off as part of the settlement.
That's the restitution part. The other part of the Friedeman punishment plan is to force Ebbers to start a home based business, to apparently fulfill his grand potential and further repay his debt to society.
This sounds a lot like communism to me: a penalty according to Ebbers' ability to exact repayment according to need. I don't suppose Friedeman is willing to extend the same courtesy to crack addicts. (The only column I can find has Friedeman encouraging churches to bring crack addicts into congregrations for healing through Christ.):
Where do you want the homosexuals, the pro-abortionists, the crack-addicted, the alcoholics and, yes, even the -- gasp! -- Kerry supporters, if not in your congregation hearing the God-breathed Word of the Lord? Don't kick them out -- bring them on.
Maybe Friedeman is making a broader point about out-of-control sentencing non-violent criminals. Twenty-five years for theft will surely seem steep to some. But I'm afraid that Friedeman is defending Ebbers because he can exploit of all the advantages your average crack-addict lacks. That makes no sense to me.
