Throw the book at him

John Lynch is set for sentencing in the morning.

There are those — longtime friends, colleagues and family — calling for leniency, who point to charitable acts and the like. But it is important, I think, to remember this:

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Chiesa wrote in a memo to the judge that “Lynch’s authority was unquestioned and his influence unfettered” in New Jersey politics and called his crime a “serious breach of the public trust.”

“It is important that the sentence demonstrate to the public that even this state’s most powerful figures are abound by the same laws that govern its ordinary citizens,” Chiesa wrote.

John Lynch’s actions make it more difficult for New Jersey’s citizens to believe in their government, weakening it and weakening the ties that bind us all together. That is aegregiousus act and he deserves a heavy sentence.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet