You may not have heard about this conviction. For some reason it got little coverage on
NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC & CNN.
You might also have gathered (quite accurately)
that I believe the Department of Justice is frequently guilty of selective (and/or
unethical) prosecution. I have yet to see a case where Eric Holder’s posse
picked on his Democratic cronies when the defendant was innocent. I would hypothesize that the bias is the
other direction. I distrust the Justice
Department. I believe they are political
and are much more likely to chase their enemies than their friends. And yet based on their actions over the last
decade, I could never be confident beyond a reasonable doubt about anything they
tell me.
I have not read the transcripts but my guess is that if you and I were on the jury we also would have arrived at the same decision as this jury did - guilty. Here is one report: “Over the course of the two-week trial, prosecutors presented testimony from more than a dozen contractors, city officials and investigators who detailed a series of alleged payoffs involving Mr. Nagin and the granite-countertop business he formed with his sons, Stone Age LLC. His sons weren't charged.” But then again, I don’t know about all the side deals the DOJ extracted to bring forward this evidence.
I have not read the transcripts but my guess is that if you and I were on the jury we also would have arrived at the same decision as this jury did - guilty. Here is one report: “Over the course of the two-week trial, prosecutors presented testimony from more than a dozen contractors, city officials and investigators who detailed a series of alleged payoffs involving Mr. Nagin and the granite-countertop business he formed with his sons, Stone Age LLC. His sons weren't charged.” But then again, I don’t know about all the side deals the DOJ extracted to bring forward this evidence.
It is quite possible that Nagin cost the City
of New Orleans more through simple incompetence than outright dishonesty. Not that two negatives make a positive.
I see dishonesty in the private sector every
day. But here is the difference. When an individual or company has been looted
or stolen from, they act quickly and decisively to try and claw back some of
their damages in civil court. And the
referees maintain a fair game most of the time. This happens less often in the
public sector.
Nagin was convicted on February 12 and of
course he can still appeal the conviction.
If is conviction holds up, what should the penalty be?
Mayoral corruption is bad, but not quite as
serious as judicial, police or prosecutor corruption.
I rate different forms of corruption as follows:
1 1) Judicial corruption (see the Kids for Cash case in North Eastern
Pennsylvania). When a judge is corrupt,
he has all the power. There is nothing worse.
2) Police corruption. When a policeman
or FBI agent is willing to hide evidence or lie then the chance of a fair trial
is nil. When this is discovered, it should
be punished severely.
3) Prosecutor corruption. When
a prosecutor is willing to encourage lies or indict a defendant that she know
is innocent (for political reasons), it
is a horrible miscarriage of justice.
Especially if the defendant does not have sufficient resources to fight
(most of the time). This is the reason I have become convinced that we should
set aside the death penalty.
4) Political corruption. This is all too common. Our politicians at a minimum consider each
and every day if their next vote/decision/action/statement will help or hurt
their chances at reelection. When the
politician is in an executive role (like the former mayor of New Orleans) then the
consequences of corruption are even more pronounced.
5) Regulator corruption. These
people usually get caught.
6) Private corruption. Try
bribing an honest policeman and you will serve some serious time.
Don’t despair Mr. Nagin. When you complete your prison term, you can move
to Chicago and probably reemerge in Illinois and Chicago politics.
