The RackA reader has chastised me for neglecting this blog. I think that if I post a couple of articles per week I'm doing pretty well. But I see the problem: I'm a binge poster. It isn't just here; look at FC. But the problem is worse here and I will do my best to change things. Having said that, it may get even worse, because I'm thinking of starting a computer oriented blog—something like MarkZuckerbergIsEvil.com (shockingly still available).

You may have heard about the heroin burrito case. Henry Marin, a courthouse worker, was charged with trying to smuggle 24 grams of heroin in a burrito into the Los Angeles prison. The 27-year-old Marin recently took a plea deal for a 2 year sentence even though he claims to be innocent. In general, I'm willing to believe an innocent person will take such a deal, because it happens all the time. In Marin's case, I am skeptical. He was facing a maximum sentence of only 3 years if he went to court. One year was all he got for the chance to exonerate himself?

What's more important is that the length of the sentence does not matter in the grand scheme of things. The really bad thing is that Marin will now be labeled a felon for the rest of his life. Yes, he may eventually have the felon expunged. But there are many jobs he will never be allowed to take. I think his chances of getting a security clearance are pretty low. Good luck getting elected to the school board. And most of all: good luck having anyone take you seriously, because they will always dismiss your opinions as the ravings of "that heroin smuggler."

When Jack Abramoff got out of prison, he immediately had a big money book deal. He was wanted all over the TV box and the Internet machine. He was credible because he was a known truth teller. No, wait; he was credible because... Let me think. Of yeah! He was credible because he got rich subverting our constitutional democracy! His life ought to be good.

Now that kid smuggling the drugs? The rack!

Afterword

This is the kind of article that will be visited by people who read about the "heroin burrito" case and are so angry they've got to find out more. So don't be surprised if some idiot comments, "Heroin bad! He should get the rack!" Another possibility is, "Abramoff was listened to because he was talking about how what he did before was bad!" This is harder to counter given that it is partly true. However, regardless of what you think about heroin, what Abramoff did was far far far worse than what Marin did. Yet even without the book, there would have been a high paying job for Abramoff when he got out. There will not be for Marin. And there will probably not be for the rest of his life.