Yesterday, Bernie Madoff was sentenced for running a huge Ponzi scheme and stealing billions of dollars from over a thousand victims. His attorney asked for a 12 year sentence for the 71 year-old criminal. The prosecutor asked for 150 years, saying the number of victims and the amount he stole justifies that sentence. The judge agreed with the prosecutor and gave Madoff 150 years in prison.I'm having a bit of a problem believing the sentence was justified. Being sentenced to 150 years is the same as being sentenced to life without parole -- for theft, a non-violent crime. Many murderers, rapists, kidnappers and child molesters aren't sentenced that harshly.
The moral of this story is that stealing from the rich is obviously the most serious crime a person can commit in our capitalist country. If he had stolen from poor or working class folks, even hundreds of them, he would have been sentenced to 10 or 12 years and been eligible for parole after serving half of it (and probably gotten that parole).
Personally, I believe the person who steals from poor or working folks commits the greater crime. That criminal is probably stealing money that is needed for food, rent, car payment or a child's medical care or education.
Madoff refused to take less than a million dollars, and these fools begged him to take their money. They were greedy. They believed his stories of huge returns, and took their money out of safe investments so they could make a killing. This wasn't their food or rent money. It was investment capital, and none of them will go hungry without it.
I've always believed the old adage that says if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. These people knew that adage, but they still let their greed get the best of them. And now they're mad. They're mad because he made them look like the fools they really are.
I'm not saying Madoff shouldn't be punished. He's a criminal and should pay the price for that. But is 150 years fair? Should his non-violent crime be punished more harshly than the sentences received by violent criminals?
Lady Justice is supposed to be blind, but this case shows us that is not true. In America, it is far more serious to commit a crime against the rich, than to commit a crime against working folks.
I might be more inclined to agree with you if the Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel ( along with his charitable foundation, Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity) wasn't among the "fools" who lost money to Madoff.
ReplyDeleteWhen you put a human face like Wiesel's on things, it becomes more difficult to be judgmental.
You could say that a larger problem is that the rich are generally allowed to have human faces, while the poor are largely anonymous. You'd be right about that.
But was Madoff's sentence excessive? I don't think so. He certainly deserves at least thirty years, which will take him past the end of his life. Beyond that it's academic.
It's a fallacy to say that because some people get away with evil, others should also. It's also a fallacy to suggest we should be more lenient with old people, as you understood when you wrote about the Manson family.
I think the point is don't do something that will make you a cause célèbre.
ReplyDeleteBoy, I was glad to see someone else reacted the same way as I did!!!!
ReplyDeleteI thought of all the murders; rapists - child molesting cases we've seen/heard on television (high profile), and not ONE of them ever got this kind of a sentence.
This is a NON-VIOLENT crime; and just as you said, if it had been against the average or low-income community, he probably wouldn't have even gotten 12 years; 3 to 5 - and then probation.
It shows what talks in this country - MONEY - right up to the justice system and beyond!!!!
Then they claim he'll be in high security; a small cell and that with his anti-social behavior, he should do just fine. I listened to the blathering on the television; etc., and thought this was nothing but the rich lynching this guy (granted, a crook), but no one forced one single person into this scheme - not one!
I'd better quit now; I'd end up doing a 'post'......
Spacedark-
ReplyDeleteI also like and respect Elie Wiesel. But liking and/or respecting someone doesn't mean they can't do something very foolish (and greedy) - which is what he did.
And I never said we should be more lenient with old people, or his sentence should be easier because some people got away with something. Just that the sentence should be more in line with what others get.
P.S.- I don't have any problem at all getting judgemental. Must be a character flaw.