Ask anyone in this country and they’ll tell you it pays to be in politics. Forget about the revolving door of politicians and the lobbyist of special interest groups. What about the politicians who break laws and are given a slap on the wrist for committing crimes that otherwise come with life sentences?
Take former House speaker Dennis Hastert, for example. Recently, the retired Congressman was convicted of illegal bank structuring. The case in itself exposed more than just his illegal attempts to evade federal authorities, in fact, it’s the reasoning behind the act that has everyone talking.
Many years ago Hastert was a high school wrestling coach before serving in congress. It was during this case that several people have come out to accuse Hastert of child molestation.
Originally, the prosecutor suggested a six-month sentence for what otherwise carries a maximum five-year jail sentence. The judge, Thomas Durkin, however felt differently and denied the jail sentence. In fact, he increased it, giving Hastert 15 months behind bars. While he rebuked the former politician for his role as a sexual predator, he referenced Hastert’s health as to why he didn’t receive a larger sentence in jail.
Part of the sentencing required Hastert to register as a sex offender. Granted the charge wasn’t necessarily about his role in child molestation but through the trial and investigation, evidence shows that he was in fact a sexual predator. Since the sexual misconduct charges wouldn’t meet the statute of limitations, Hastert wouldn’t be charged for the crime.
However, a lot should be said about the initial charges and the sentencing that came about as a result of the trial. Granted the judge was a lot more firm than the prosecution over Hastert’s sentencing, can we honestly believe that he would’ve taken health considerations had Hastert not been a former politician, let alone one of the country's highest ranking?
Whether or not the judge was within his right to make those considerations or has a history of showing leniency to those who have severe health conditions, one thing is evident, most politicians fail at being held accountable to the crimes they commit.
Even when they are accountable, the punishment never measures up to the capacity of the crime. They may pay a fine or do a small amount of jail time but never would you see someone severely punished for a severe crime they’ve committed.
Take former disgraced New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer as another example. Spitzer, before being elected to Governor was the State’s Attorney General, which means he knows the law very well. So when it was revealed that Spitzer was patronizing a prostitute, he should’ve very well served a jail sentence. Instead, he was asked to resign with no jail time and the possibility of running for office again in the near future, which he did attempt to do for New York City’s Comptroller’s office.
It’s alarming because here in the United States we have the highest incarceration rate in the world. Many of the sentences being carried out are for non-violent crimes, which aren’t as excessive as the sentences being handed down to offenders. We currently have people serving life sentences for marijuana, a drug that Presidents Clinton and Obama have openly admitted to using before.
Even during a Republican Presidential debate in 2015, Jeb Bush, a former U.S. Governor; son and brother of former U.S. Presidents, joked about using marijuana at a time when his father and friends were handing out excessive jail sentences for anyone in possession of a drug that shouldn’t even be registered as a narcotic. The whole thing was a laughing matter amongst the candidates on the stage but set the tone that politicians receive treatment as if they are infallible.
Too often the justice system fails the people of this country and nothing is done to change it. There are always talks of reform and yet with all their power and all their might, the U.S. government has done nothing, if anything, to change the way our justice system serves its people. Ask them to reform their own wages and congress will act swiftly and united. In fact, it’s the only thing they’ve collectively agreed on without a tiff on the floor.
It’s amazing how these politicians will beg for your support, ask you for your money, and make broken promises but when it comes to following the laws they created, they fail to do so. And when they fail to follow the laws they put into place, they refuse to be punished for it.
Would you take medicine from a pharmaceutical company that your doctor prescribed for you even when the same said doctor refuses to take the same medicine, from the same pharmacy, for the same ailment and with no allergic reactions or known side effects?
Then why should we take the same crap these same politicians try to make us take?
