Justice?

"My object all sublime

I shall achieve in time

To let the punishment fit the crime,

The punishment fit the crime..."

William S. Gilbert, The Mikado

Here are some facts from an editorial by Tom Lutz in the Los Angeles Times for October 17th:

Convicted: Dale Sisson--Stole $400 from Spicy N Hot Liquor in Sealy, Texas. He had a pellet gun, but did not fire it. Sentence : 40 years in jail.

Convicted: Monica Bennet--Drove the getaway car for Dale Sisson. Sentence: 8 years in jail.

Convicted: Andrew S. Fastow--Received roughly $45,000,000 for his role in the scheme that caused the loss of thousands of jobs and millions of investor dollars at Enron. He did not use a gun, but his manipulation of numbers on paper contributed to the energy crisis in California that killed three people . Sentence: 6 years in prison.

How's that for a slap on the wrist?

Tom Lutz attributes the inequity to the fact that Fastow has a college degree, while Sisson and Bennet do not.

I think it goes beyond that. Fastow is extremely wealthy. He has friends and influence in high places. He is one of the good-looking guys in suits that are members of the local country club. And he probably donates to the campaigns of politicians.

Most of us would agree that corporate executives are over-compensated, just as professional athletes and rock stars are. They get bonuses when they close factories, initiate layoffs, and cut employee benefits, even if their company continues to lose money.

Maybe executives consider their compensation reasonable reward for the magnitude and complexity of the decisions they make. But when they commit a crime that has large and complex impacts, the sentence should also be proportionately large. If we really want to send the right message to executives, Sisson's and Fastow's sentences should be interchanged.