Conrad Black Receives New Avenue for Appeal (Click for Link)

Conrad Black has received partial vindication today, and my feelings are mixed.  The Supreme Court, in a somewhat complex ruling, declared that the objection Lord Black raised against the final Jury Instructions was in fact valid.  I didn't follow the case closely enough to make my own call on his innocence, or not, but I will say this: something was rotten in the State of the Investigation.

Lord Black is no saint, I will accept.  However, as an avid reader of his column in the National Post, I must say he doesn't come across as a criminal, let alone a perpetrator of massive fraud.  He comes across more as Holmes than Moriarty.  Maybe it's because I agree with him politically, but I really find that his insights into the US Justice System were accurate and insightful.  Correcting for a certain degree of personal bitterness, it really is plausible that some Prosecutor was padding his resumé for a run at State Judge based on putting Some Rich Guy behind bars on a rising tide of Populism.

Which takes me into some delicate territory; I like democracy more than any alternatives.  However, electing judicial officials strikes me as a dangerous place to start inserting uninformed opinion.  Now, I know that the elections are supposed to be based on character and willingness to serve the public, but really, shouldn't knowledge be a factor? I mean, sure, if you pass the bar you're qualified to be a lawyer, but how is the public supposed to know if you're good or not?

Honestly, it's hard to say for sure.  However, I had the nagging suspicion that Lord Black was being steamrolled by public outrage over Enron, and some Prosecutor was burnishing his CV.  At least now we can get another step of due process.