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Did Ward Crutchfield and Judge Hagler get what they deserved?
Posted By katie allison granju
Roy Exum says they did:
Judge Breen wisely realized the people of the state hardly need a pound of flesh to be assured Ward Crutchfield will be adequately punished. What he will do to himself during his house arrest after a brilliant life as a lawyer and as a statesman will be more than enough.
A well-respected and admired jurist by his peers, Judge Hagler has suffered repeated embarrassment since the tape surfaced some months ago. He’s stepped down from the bench because of a stupid moment when he apparently said some mighty dumb things on a tape recorder.
An overzealous newspaper had tried to obtain a copy of the tape and, in doing so, held Judge Hagler up to the public’s contempt with several page-one stories despite the fact several different law-enforcement agencies agreed no crime was committed nor any laws were broken.
I, for one, find the newspaper’s actions as tawdry and ill-advised as the tape itself and Chancellor’s Brown’s ruling, which will return the senseless tape to Judge Hagler, further confirmed that the only thing that comes from this whole sordid affair is, sadly, another broken man, one who had served us well until he made a stupid and costly mistake.
Jan 18th, 2008
On Crutchfield: I can see the judge’s point about jail time, given the convicted felon’s age and health. But the fine, on the other hand, sets a dangerously low bar in terms of deterring elected officials from participating in this sort of crime in the future. Crutchfield was only made to pay back the amount he pleaded guilty to taking, which was only 25% of what was alleged. At best, he breaks even on that score. That’s disturbing.
On Hagler: I won’t weigh in about the newspaper itself, but I’m glad that we won’t have the contents of the tape smeared across our faces. There’s the public right to know, and then there’s excess, and I believe this would have fallen into the latter category.