IN DEFENSE OF RUMPOLE

RUMPOLE DEFENDS HIMSELF: I am surprised that based on the level of experience and intelligence of our dear readers that no one gets my point: I AM NOT DEFENDING SCOTT ROTHSTEIN. His crimes are indefensible. I am criticizing the specific sentence in this case and our overall sentencing philosophy. What better vehicle than using a despised criminal to illustrate my argument?

There are multiple problems with this sentence, and the first problem is an issue I contend has not been refuted: where is the acknowledgement by Judge Cohn of Rothstein's cooperation? You talk about sending a message for his crime? First- I don't know that there are many lawyers in Miami have a chance to steal a billion and are considering it. The crime is an aberration. But I do know lots of clients (and one billionaire that I am representing in a federal investigation in another state who currently has fled the country) who have fled or are considering fleeing. What message does this sentence send to people who want to return and "do the right thing?"

Second: What most people are saying is that Judge Cohn gave Rothstein 50 with the foresight he is going to reduce it to 30 after the cooperation hearing because what Rothstein really deserves is 30 . That is not how the system is supposed to work. There is supposed to be truth in sentencing. If Rothstein deserved 30, give him 30. If his cooperation merits a reduction BELOW what he deserves, that is the way it is supposed to work. What is our famed Federal Blogger supposed to say to the next client of his who is offered cooperation and responds that he knows the judge will just give him a higher sentence on the front end so that his cooperation will end up being meaningless? That is what happened here.

Third: The real problem is that our judicial system sentences people on average to more prison time per crime than any other industrialized nation that has a fair judicial system. Look what we do to drug users with the minimum mandatory sentences. Lately there are articles of judges refusing to impose the min man sentences for drug trafficking - the problem is that their enlightened protests are twenty years too late. In one celebrated case Judge Jack Weinstein- a legendary US District Court Judge in the Eastern District of NY refused to impose a min man for a possession of child pornography case. Click here. And that case illustrates what I am trying to do here: It is downright impossible to defend Scott Rothstein or find anything good to say about someone who gets sexual gratification from pictures of children.

It his however possible to treat the criminal with fairness. Otherwise we lower ourselves to their level- exploiting the weak for personal gratification. It made a lot of people feel good to see Rothstein get 50. That doesn't make it right.

I agree Bernie Madoff needs to be in prison for the rest of his life. His crimes truly destroyed families who placed their trust and life savings in his care. Not so with Rothstein. Rothstein's money mostly came from Hedge Funds- although I agree he did screw up one lawsuit for which he used forged judicial orders to cover his tracks. But does that merit 50 years? A famous football player killed someone in Miami Beach recently with his car and received 30 days. Rothstein did not physically kill or injure anyone. Most of the loss was from professional investors who were either greedy, didn't do their due diligence or were part of the scam. There were others who were personally hurt. A 25 year sentence would have been sufficient punishment in those cases.

We sentence people to terms of years as if they don't really mean anything. Life in prison is hard, difficult, cruel, and in many places in the US, inhumane. Female prisoners who had open cases were being raped and sexually abused at the federal holding facility in Miami. Those responsible for those crimes deserve 50 years. And we all know that type of abuse is the tip of the iceberg for what occurs in our prisons. And for that we all bear the responsibility of turning a blind eye to the outrageous abuses in our penal system. You spend one day in prison and then let me know how easy it is.

All my critics can say in response (mostly) is that Rothstein is a jerk or a pig and got what was coming to him. No- he got more than what was coming to him. If he received 25 years in 1985 and got out today would that really and truly be an injustice? Do you think he would just saunter out of prison having lost a quarter of a century of his life with a smile on his face thinking it was all worth it?

Miami Judge Harvey Shenberg sold for $50,000 cash what he thought was the name of an informant who was going to be killed, and he got less than 20 years. Which crime more tarnished our profession?

Miami Judge Roy Gelber was selling appointments as fast as he could. He cooperated and got less than ten. It was an odious sentence and Gelber deserved much more. But he was rewarded for his cooperation. The system worked.

Other countries recognize the terrible impact a prison sentence has on someone. Their sentences are rational and reasonable. Ours are neither.

It's easy to trash Scott Rothstein and throw away the key. It's harder to look in the mirror and ask what are we doing to people in our justice system. It's the cases like the one Judge Weinstein had or the Rothstein case that helps us examine our morals and calibrate what justice really is.

Rothstein got slammed. It makes us feel good for the moment.

Justice was not done in that Ft. Lauderdale courtroom the other day, and there is a price to pay for that.