In yesterday's Ottawa Citizen, Dan Gardner makes a point I have privately been making for some time now:
I think Mr. Black's defenders are -- largely -- correct. Politics certainly had a hand in his prosecution. The tactics used against him were abusive. The punishment he will endure is grotesque.
And for all this, Mr. Black can thank conservative justice policies -- the very policies promoted by his admirers and defenders, including some of his former newspapers. In that sense, Mr. Black has been -- to use an appropriately medieval phrase -- hoist by his own petard.
Nothing good has come out of the Black trial. Period. A man's life has been ruined (for now), a newspaper empire destroyed, and the companies he built are now worth pennies.
But Gardner's point rings true, and count me amongst those who will think twice before advocating "tough on crime" policies in the future, especially with regard to non-violent offenses. The US justice system is dangerously out of control, and I'm not sure what -- if anything -- can be done to fix it.
As the trial showed, the prosecution failed to demonstrate Black had criminal intent. Prosecutors tried to explain this away by claiming it was a "sophisticated scheme" -- so sophisticated, it seems, it was beyond what any normal person could comprehend. What's more, there was ample reasonable doubt raised pertaining to each charge, not just the 9 of the 13 for which the jury acquitted him.
I digress.
Watching this entire tragedy has been very difficult for all who know and/or admire Conrad Black. As those who have followed the story will have observed, just about everyone who has worked for Black -- from the journalists at his newspapers to his house staff and even the receptionist at his office -- have a deep respect and admiration for and loyalty toward him. That came out in numerous TV interviews (I think of Joan Crockatt on CTVNewsnet the day of the sentencing) and in many articles published during this ordeal.
The gulf between the public perception of Conrad Black and what he is truly like in person is so great, I doubt it can ever be reconciled.
What a shame.
