Kenneth Lay - Abatement? Why?

Kenneth Lay keeps sticking it to Enron's investors, even from beyond the grave.

Today's article in the Washington Post has me more worried than ever that this great nation of ours has completely slipped beyond the control of its citizenry. Henry David Thoreau had it right over 150 years ago when he worried that government was losing sight of the fact that it serves at the pleasure of the people, and the people were losing their control over this monster that we had created. Case in point...

A federal judge in Houston revoked the fraud and conspiracy convictions of Kenneth Lay (yes, of Enron fame), who died of heart disease in July. The government was attempting to seize $44 million from the "Lay" estate (hopefully for repatriation of the investors, though that's probably overly optimistic), however, this latest invocation of precedent has stalled that effort. It seems that abatement allows for the vacation of a conviction if defendants die before they are able to exercise their right to appeal. Courts can rule that defendants' constitutional rights to challenge their convictions outweigh other considerations and "the law hesitates to punish the dead," according to some unnamed analyst. However, the punishment, albeit undeserved, for those living souls who suffered from Lay's crimes, well, we're just going to go right on punishing them.

Here's where American citizens need rise up and confront this BEAST that we've created (and allowed to consume everything in its path until it was too large for the chain we posted out in front of the house). Why in the world are we more concerned about the rights of a dead guy than we are about doing "the right thing" for the living? This man ruined lives with his criminal greed and pursuit of cash, all at the expense of the common investor. Now that he's dead, and may the soul rest in peace (if that's what you believe in), he doesn't require the right to appeal. Toss out the stupid rule and find in favor of the victims of his crimes.

America is crumbling from within, and we're watching it happen. It's like a train bearing down on us, we see the tracks are missing, and know the trail will derail, but we're simply not doing anything about it. I know this Kenneth Lay story doesn't spell the demise of Western Civilization; but it sure does flip another straw on that camel's back, doesn't it?


If I Only Had A Brain