Law & Order

Before the television show that is so enamored by James Wolcott, and provides the Rupublans with a last hope for a candidate, there was Преступление и Наказание¹, the novel by Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский², something of a morality play when read in the original, but more of a psychological study in translation, mainly because translators don’t translate the names of the characters. Ted liked to direct his readers’ attention by using meaningful names.

Lately there has been a lot of ink spilled over “Punishment” without much regard for the “Crimes” involved. The convicted are put forth as victims of prejudicial treatment because of their wealth and power, ignoring what happens to people who have neither wealth nor power in the “criminal justice system.”³

The first case involves driving under the influence of alcohol. It should be noted that more people are killed every year in the United States by intoxicated drivers than have been killed by all of the acts of terrorism against the United States since people started tracking such acts.

The individual was given an opportunity to rehabilitate herself, but refused to comply with the minor restrictions placed upon her. As a result of a hearing on her failure to comply with the terms of her probation, she was remanded to jail, in the hope that she would understand that she must actually do what she agreed to do under the terms of her sentence.

She is being treated differently, as most people would never have received a sentence as light as her original plea agreement.

The second case is not simply about revealing that one individual was a covert operative of the CIA. While that happened, the revelation destroyed an entire network that was gathering information on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction around the Persian Gulf, and probably resulted in the death of US agents. The Central Intelligence Agency insisted on the investigation, knowing that the perpetrator was probably in the White House. The level of anger indicated by this action only makes sense if there has been a death.

People keep forgetting that this action was not started by the Wilsons or Congress, but was the result of a complaint filed by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Long term, the CIA will find it impossible to recruit people in foreign countries after they have seen that their identity might be compromised for political reasons. The CIA doesn’t identify agents who are killed or captured to avoid revealing their status, as that would compromise their contacts.

The individual did not “forget.” He was convicted of lying to Federal agents twice and of perjuring himself before a grand jury, which made it impossible to investigate a serious breach of national security while the nation is at war.

The prosecutor afforded the individual multiple opportunities to tell the truth, but he refused. Others made multiple trips to the grand jury to correct their “misstatements,” but this individual continued to lie.

The people who think that 30 months is cruel should consider the fate of the people who were associated with Brewster & Jennings. I feel certain most of them would much prefer his sentence to theirs.

1. Crime and Punishment
2. Theodore Dosoevski [Fyodor is Theodore]
3. As a former member of that milieu, I can state authoritatively that while it is criminal, there is very little justice, and absolutely no system.