Corruption in Probation

For John, BLUF:  My view is that corruption is a taint, but not a permeating problem, yet.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The [Lowell] Sun yesterday talked about the sentencing of former Probation Commissioner John O'Brien, former deputy Elizabeth Tavares and former Deputy Commissioner William Burke III.  The lede says it all:

The 18-month sentence for former Probation Commissioner John O'Brien, convicted of leading a political hiring scheme within his department, prompted the federal judge in the case to flag the patronage issue as far too common.

The problem with patronage is that it never shrinks, it always grows.  In the end it becomes real corruption.

Here is an excerpt from the Sun's Saturday editorial on the issue:

Though guilty of setting up and running this bogus practice, Judge William Young did not put the onus on these individuals.  Far being "rogue agents," the judge basically stated they had simply taken what had been the established practice for hiring in the Judiciary, which includes the Probation Department, to the extreme.

Would it be wrong to ask where Attorney General Martha Coakley is on all this?  Why is this a Federal Case and not a Massachusetts case?

The good news, to the degree there is good news, is that we are not yet like Mexico.  Here are the first three paragraphs of a long article from The Wall Street Journal [Behind a pay wall].

CHILPANCINGO, Mexico—Thousands of demonstrators descended on this state capital on Friday to protest the recent alleged massacre of 43 freshmen from a local teachers college, adding to days of unrest that has left roads blocked and government buildings torched.

The protesters have seized dozens of town halls across two states and briefly shut airports in two nearby cities.  On Friday, they hijacked food-delivery trucks belonging to Sabritas, a unit of PepsiCo, and handed out the goods inside to passersby.

Mexico's spreading unrest and sense of lawlessness are shaping up as major political and economic challenges to President Enrique Peña Nieto, with central bank policy makers saying the events could crimp the country's sluggish economic growth, according to the minutes released Friday of its Oct. 31 meeting.

This is where corruption leads.  College freshmen being kidnapped.  Food trucks being looted.  Economy collapsing.

Not right away, but eventually.  One wonders to what degree immigrants, bringing the vestiges of their own culture, bring corruption with them?  Not to say we aren't pretty good at it ourselves.

Regards  —  Cliff