A judge has reduced the prison sentence of Michael Milken, the junk bond tycoon, from 10 years to two.
The judge said it was Milken`s reward for squealing on some of his fellow Wall Street hustlers.
But this has prompted a debate about the fairness of our justice system.
One news analysis put it this way: ”Are white-collar felons treated less harshly than hard-core criminals?”
Well, I should hope so.
I realize that isn`t a popular attitude. Most people believe someone like Milken should remain in jail until he rots.
As a radio talk-show caller said: ”Why should a rich guy like Milken get away with two years when an ordinary guy might get that much time for breaking into a store and grabbing a few TV sets?”
There are several answers to that question.
First, it`s unlikely someone would serve two years for stealing TV sets. With our prisons jammed, there`s barely enough cell space for rapists, murderers and dope dealers, much less an ordinary thief.
But more important, there`s the fact that Milken is a financial genius. And the crimes he is accused of required a brilliant, creative mind.
He wasn`t busting in store windows and grabbing kitchen appliances or wristwatches. Any lout can do that. He wasn`t sneaking up behind old ladies and grabbing their purses. Any fleet-footed thug can do that. He wasn`t sticking a gun in the face of a 7-Eleven clerk, which any homicidal punk can do.
To do what he did, Milken had to study hard in elementary school, high school, college, and go on to advanced degrees in economics and business.
Isn`t education one of our nation`s top priorities?
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Then he had to go out into the competitive world of Wall Street and learn all the ins and outs of big-time finance, which some money guys don`t do during their entire careers.
And isn`t that another national priority, competing with the rest of the world in economic wizardry?
After all that, he had to first get rich on the legit, which he did, before he was in a position to hatch illegal schemes so complex that nobody except the prosecutors could understand them, and it`s not certain that they really did.
So Milken did what we ask our children to do: Study hard, learn, get good grades, finish school, and get out there in the real world and make something of yourself.
OK, so he ended up doing a soft-shoe around a few laws. Hey, is anyone perfect?
The big question should be: Are we to punish someone with that kind of initiative, preparation and brilliance more harshly than a mope who is so lacking in wit and enterprise that he smacks an old coot on the head with a brick and takes his wallet?
If so, what happened to this country`s commitment to excellence?
In recent years, there has been a growing demand for tougher treatment of white-collar criminals. And maybe there should be.
But I`ve known many white-collar criminals. I`ve also known many dirty-collar criminals. And given a choice, I`d rather run into Michael Milken in a dark alley than some guy with missing teeth, hair growing out of his forehead and drool on his chin.
Then there is the matter of public humiliation.
Consider your average head-buster, neck-twister and chest-stomper. The cops bust him and word goes around the neighborhood or his gang. Do his fellow cutthroats say, ”Oh, what a shock and disgrace. Who would have expected it of so fine a fellow?”?
Of course not. It is a badge of honor. When Charlie returns, after plea-bargaining his sentence down to a weekend jaunt, he will be a neighborhood celebrity.
But Milken, like most white-collar criminals, became a public disgrace. His wife and children were humiliated.
And, in what could be considered cruel and unusual punishment, the prosecutors wouldn`t even let him put on his hairpiece when he went to court to squeal on his fellow tycoons.
There he sat, bald as a grape for the first time in public, with those newspaper and TV artists sketching him. And the sketches were flashed across the nation for everyone to snicker at.
But you can go into a grocery store, rob an old lady, shoot her in the head for the joy of it, and your name won`t even make it into the local squib section of the paper.
Yes, I know what many of you are going to say: Milken became a billionaire. And even after he gets out of prison, he`ll still have a few hundred million left.
Well, of course he became rich. Why do you think he went to college, to learn to steal hubcaps?
I`ll present one more argument in Milken`s behalf.
Your daughter comes home with two men. She says: ”Mom, Dad, I am in love with both of these fellows. But I can`t decide which one I will marry.
”Edward, here, has an MBA and fine table manners and is becoming rich on Wall Street. However, he has a character flaw. He is greedy and might be breaking some financial laws.
”Louie, here, quit school for a career holding up all-night convenience stores, and he also moonlights as a mugger, specializing in stomping old people in the park.
”So, which one do you want as a son-in-law?”
I rest my case.
(On another subject: In Tuesday`s column, about a questionable charity, Billy Williams` name came up. I thought the column made it clear that he wasn`t involved and his name was being used by the fundraisers without his permission or knowledge. Williams thinks it wasn`t clear. OK, now it is.)
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