Burnt Witch, Broken Promises

To secure the recent return to America of the fugitive "fraudster" Sholam Weiss , the U.S. Department of Justice purportedly lied to Austrian authorities and skirted extradition treaties. To make sure Weiss, now age 55, never leaves prison, a judge sentenced him in absentia (he fled the country mid way through his trial) to 845 years (10,140 months)...or nearly 700 years more than Bernie Madoff's 150-year sentence. 


It was exhibitions such as these -- ripe with anything-goes, pull-out-all-the-stops, throw-perspective-to-the-wind fervor -- that inspired the creation of this blogsite...and this inaugural post. 


Simply put, in recent decades white-collar defendants seem to have joined alleged terrorists, illegal aliens and purveyors/possessors of child pornography as a favorite target of modern witch hunters. White-collar defendants (heavy hitters and small fish alike) are typically prosecuted under vague, sweeping statutes crafted decades ago to cripple mob bosses and drug kingpins. Their sentences often rival and sometimes surpass those imposed on armed robbers and even some rapists and killers in decades leading up to the post-Nixon, get-tough, law-and-order, build-and-fill-prisons era. Gradually over the past two decades, a relative handful of spectacular crimes and excesses (from Madoff's Ponzi scheme to Goldman-Sachs role in the recent economic meltdown) helped set the stage for the zealous pursuit and harsh punishment of growing numbers of citizens who find themselves accused of white-collar crimes.


Yesterday on another blog site, I commented that nabbing white-collar suspects now seems to outweigh other important American values, such as keeping our word to friendly foreign countries and honoring treaties. Original Post Here

The one direct reply oozed derision and annoyance typically reserved these days for military lawyers representing Guantanamo detainees, amnesty advocates for undocumented workers and the few brave federal judges and academics questioning the severity of prison sentences being imposed for simple possession of child porn by seemingly harmless first-offenders.


My blog will focus on unduly harsh treatment of all citizens that I believe are being cast as modern-day witches, particularly white-collar targets.