The Ebbers sentence

It’s almost painful to talk about Ebbers’ 25-year sentence for lying.  Those who see the injustice – the loathing of capitalism that lurks here – don’t need any reminders.  But there is a substantial constituency who simply don’t see a problem, and will probably tell me so. 

Well, it's clear business people have learned a lesson here. If they want money, rob a bank or sell heroin.  If they want power, steal votes, or lie to the voters.  If they want to hurt people, rape them, assault them. If they want to just be completely irresponsible, get drunk and drive a multiton vehicle into a pedestrian.  Because I doubt any of those offenses would be punished like Ebbers' was.

But Ebbers didn’t want to do any of those things. He mainly wanted to build a business. Starting as a milkman and a bouncer, he did just that, creating a large, legitimate and prosperous business that provided real jobs until he went wrong trying to sustain the company’s success.  The trial had evidence from 169 people of his good deeds.  He gave away $100 million, mostly anonymously. 

Ebbers is no saint and he did wrong.  But his guilt was diffused through a large organization, and his victims included greedy and stupid investors who looked at the stock market as a big casino, and ignored investing common sense and plentiful warning signs. 

Whatever Ebbers’ guilt, the deliberate wrong done him by society with this sentence is worse.  We will have an opportunity to understand this, as Ebbers rots in jail year after year for the rest of his life, and probably dies there, with no chance of parole.

Update: Of course Ebbers' sentence is not alone, and should be put in context of other recent white collar sentences and non-sentences, including the notorious case of Jamie Olis.  Tom Kirkendall reveals the further injustice inherent in the disparities.

Comments

[Steve Caskey]

I thought of going on in my blog about this but you have said it all.

[Olivier Schreiber]

Thanks for posting this.
It's a shame to send this man to jail.