Bob Braun tries to make the case that Sharpe James’ transgressions — the use of his office to enrich himself and a mistress — constitute a victimless crime and, because of that, he should not have been subject to federal prosecution.
And it’s true that no one in particular was hurt, but the damage that James’ conduct causes to our democracy — a central point of many of the speeches/essays in Bill Moyers’ new book, Moyers on Democracy — means that James’ abuse of his office has an untold number of victims.
Braun acknowledges this:
Cynicism accumulates when an official is convicted, and it more deeply buries chances for reform. Corruption is a self-fulfilling prophecy — there are victims when the good do nothing.
And, yet, he says, “federal prosecutions should be reserved for crimes that do have victims.”
Violent crimes. The plague of guns transported across state lines. Wretched housing from which some — often out-of-staters — garner profits. Violation of labor and product-safety laws. The big business in illicit drug transportation and sale.
Diverting resources from these crimes creates victims. But they aren’t as much fun to read about.
The crimes he lists, of course, deserve federal focus (consider them the criminal version of interstate commerce) but that does not preclude federal prosecution when a public official is found to have misused his office for private gain.
