Five Towns Jewish Times Rabbi Yair Hoffman
Ahmed Ghailani, transferred from Guantanamo Bay, was convicted this week of conspiracy to blow up government buildings in the al-Qaida attacks on two U.S. embassies in 1998. He was acquitted on more than 280 other charges, primarily because much of the available evidence was not allowed to be presented. He will receive a sentence of 20 years in jail.
Sholom Rubashkin is now serving a 27 year sentence given to him by Judge Linda Reade for crimes associated with his running a kosher meat processing plant in Postville, Iowa.
There is such a thing as justice and there is such a thing as law. At times the two concepts meet. At times they do not. [...]
Ahmed Ghailani, transferred from Guantanamo Bay, was convicted this week of conspiracy to blow up government buildings in the al-Qaida attacks on two U.S. embassies in 1998. He was acquitted on more than 280 other charges, primarily because much of the available evidence was not allowed to be presented. He will receive a sentence of 20 years in jail.
Sholom Rubashkin is now serving a 27 year sentence given to him by Judge Linda Reade for crimes associated with his running a kosher meat processing plant in Postville, Iowa.
There is such a thing as justice and there is such a thing as law. At times the two concepts meet. At times they do not. [...]
I am far more disturbed by the author's suggestion that people who are suffering financially ("$100 from every struggling family"!) ought to be contributing to the defense of a man who is being punished, albeit too harshly, for committing large-scale fraud, than by the fact that this "religious" Jew is going to be unfairly punished.
ReplyDeleteRaffi: I couldn't have said it better.
ReplyDeleteThe moral of the story is keep your nose clean, so you don't subject yourself to the inequities of the legal system. We did not learn anything new from the Rubashkin case. There are tens of thousands of examples of people sentenced too harshly and others too leniently. Moreover, the sentencing guidelines are too harsh for some crimes and too lenient for others. Rubashkin happened to get a Judge who is prone to handing out harsh sentences. It wasn't anti-semitism or incompetence by the Judge. It was just bad mazal for Shalom Rubashkin.
ReplyDeleteIt would be madness to contribute any money to the defense. Every penny goes into the pockets of high priced lawyers. SMR got 27 years because of them. The gov had the goods on SMR. Instead of finally admitting guilt and begging for mercy his lawyers continued with the chuzpah. Even now this appeal is about the conviction itself; the sentence length is only an add-on. SMR does not have a chance. They should take a neighborhood lawyer from Brooklyn, admit guilt and beg for mercy from the appeals court. Not enrich already rich lawyers. Instead of 1 million $ it would cost 10,000 and put food on some guys table.
ReplyDeleteRabbi Hoffman writes for a newspaper that gets plenty of advertising dollars from Rubashkin, first at Agri-processors and now at Tevya's.
ReplyDeleteRabbi Hoffman's boss at that newspaper is a semi-lapsed Lubavitcher who grew up davening in 770.
Rabbi Hoffman is or was also part time mashgiach for the OU at a company said to be using Rubashkin meat to make their deli products.
Rabbi Hoffman very much wants to be part of the "establishment" and will push any agenda they tell him to if he wants to keep his various jobs.
Let's not forget that Rubashkin has committed many crimes over they years that he has never been charged with.
ReplyDeleteAnon: No he didn't.
ReplyDeleteOTOH, you did commit many crimes you haven't been charged for.