EDITORIAL UNBALANCED JUSTICE DEAL IN CORRUPTION CASE SHOWS LITTLE CONCERN FOR POLITICAL MALFEASANCE.PROMINENT Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. lawyer Pierce O'Donnell won't be going to jail, despite pleading no contest to five counts of illegal contributions to James Hahn's mayoral campaign in 2001. Just as a reminder, that was an election in which Hahn defeated Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. . Instead of the six months he could have spent in the slammer A worm that caused a billion dollars worth of damage on the Internet on January 25, 2003. Slammer infected computers all over the Internet by generating random IP addresses and causing the computer's buffer to overflow with its own instructions that replicate itself and start the process , O'Donnell made a deal: In exchange for a no-contest plea to five misdemeanor counts of using a false name while making $25,000 in political contributions to Hahn's election campaign, the other 21 charges would be dropped. Surely, the prosecutors thought that three years' probation and a fine of $155,000 would be punishment enough for another upstanding pillar of the community. What's outrageous about the deal is not the particulars of punishment. Plea deals such as this are common, and the punishment was within the scope of what is allowed. What's disgraceful dis·grace·ful adj. Bringing or warranting disgrace; shameful. dis·grace  ful·ly adv. is that this kind of crime is treated as a misdemeanor at all. Physically injuring another human being is rightfully considered a felony. But using one's money and influence to deliberately attempt to flip an election is merely a misdemeanor in the eyes of the court. It's no wonder that every level of government from City Hall to Capitol Hill is rife rife adj. rif·er, rif·est 1. In widespread existence, practice, or use; increasingly prevalent. 2. Abundant or numerous. with stories of corruption and scandal when the imbalance of justice is clearly leaning in their direction. |
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