The McDonnell trial is over. They were both found guilty on a majority of the counts. Both could easily go to prison. But is prison the best placement for the McDonnells?
I have gone soft. I admit it. However, let’s review a few points. The McDonnells did not break any Virginia laws. Secondly, I am not sure quid pro quo was clearly established.
For certain the McDonnells were greed, stupid and unethical. However, there really aren’t laws against those negative behaviors. Yes, they should have known better and clearly he can’t pile it all on his somewhat silly adolescent-like almost senior citizen wife.
We do have to ask ourselves though, is prison the smartest place for either of them? They just don’t seem like prison material to me. We also need to dispel the myths that there are “country-club” prisons. There really is no such thing. Even federal prisons are filled with dangerous gangsters and drug dealers, for heaven’s sake.
Prisons cost money. Prison is a billion dollar industry as it is. Why add to the burden with people who have already been broken. How about 1500 hours of community service in a community health center for the poor? I would even like to see teaching English in some school in the low rent district in Richmond for a year–something that humbles, not destroys. (although there are probably people out there who might disagree about destroys.)
I don’t want to see the McDonnells go to prison. I want to see Virginia make some laws that deal with ethics and how people are supposed to act while in public office. Being elected to public office is not a free pass of entitlement. Virginia lawmakers need to learn this lesson fast.
Disclaimer: I did not like 95% of Governor McDonnell’s decision while he was in office. I am certainly not a fan. I just don’t feel they should go to prison.
Dis-barment (if that’s a word), loss of VRS pension and 1500 hours community service for him. For her… remove her portrait from the Governor’s mansion, loss of cosmetics for one year, 1500 hours community service, and something snarky involving Star Scientific.
BS, I think what you suggest is more than fair.
I want real laws out of all this rather than wink wink nudge nudge.
Now, I didn’t see this with my own two eyes of course, but there was a certain governor back in the 90’s who was taking the state helicopter over to Charlottesville to court a very wealthy old man’s wife. That was on the tax payers dime also. that should be illegal also. I don’t want to pay for someone else’s quickie in the middle of the damn night.
I think they need to serve a little time otherwise we’ll never see any meaningful reform at the state level.
They were tried in federal court and the FBI has a task force that deals with political corruption, I think. It looks at corruption at the local level as well.
I just can’t figure out what Jonnie Williams really got in return for all his efforts.
If they want to send someone to jail, they should start looking at that VRS stock more closely.
Prison is actually a horrible place, even for white collar crime. I just think it would be embarrassing for the former governor and his wife to be in prison.
Back in the 70’s I can still recall going up to Byrd Stadium at the University of Maryland for the annual UMD vs UVA match. At half time out comes the UVA pep band, who were known for theit naughty antics. Here comes one of the members out on the field in a striped uniform. The spoof was clearly directed at former Governor Marvin Mandel who did some time in the big house, as it were. UMD was outraged and banned the UVA pep band from campus for I don’t know how long. the pep band was put on probation by its own university for being tactless, tasteless and in general, displaying poor form. They were forced to apologize and for many years (perhaps even still today) had to submit their skits and shows to a higher power whether playing at home or away.
I remember thinking how glad I wasn’t UMD having to worry about someone spoofing Virginia’s governor.
Of course, no one laughed harder at Gov. Ultra-sound so I guess that kind of spoofing was alright.
But seriously, as much as it costs to house someone in prison, why can’t they just be under house arrest and wear an ankle cuff? Plus he will probably get special security because he is a former gov.
The McDonnells’ knew full well that they were skirting the reporting issues with the donations from Williams. They tried to get around he issues by having the money sent to the 50% owned llc directly and also to his daughterS. There should be a better ethics law that clearly states that a donation to a family member is a direct donation to the person. In my business the Commerce department would be all over me if I gave money like that to a prospective purchaser. Look at Walmart and Mexico – all kinds of graft going on there. Prison time in a Federal Resort (minimum security) is appropriate.
Those prisons are not resorts, even the minimum security ones. They might have been at one time but not now. They have all sorts of real bad-asses in them. Killings and stabbings and sexual violations go on in federal prison routinely–even in a place like Allenwood.
http://www.american.com/archive/2007/may-june-magazine-contents/enter-a-2018hellish-place2019
Prison for both. If you do what they did you need to sit in prison for awhile. It’d be even more embarrassing if they don’t do some time. If I did what he did you can best believe I’d be in jail. What’s good for the goose…
Oh, and that VRS pension? Done.
I guess I am going soft. Republicans and Democrats both are telling me I am softening.
It costs a lot of money to keep someone in prison.
I want that VRS/Star Scientific investigated. Now that is where I see the jail time.
Sending someone to prison was never a value proposition. It’s a cost society incurs when we go away from public lashings, stocks, cutting off hands, branding and the headsmans axe.
Did we ever cut off hands in this country?
I would not object to the stocks and some rotten vegetables being thrown at the McDonnells, perhaps for a month or so, about 5 hours a day.
I might have gone overboard on cutting off hands…:)
Well, just a little although it would probably stop a lot of stealing.