An Unjust ‘Silver’ Lining: Ex-Speaker’s Tossed Verdict
If using public money to buy lucrative clients for your law firm is not corruption, then I don’t know what is (“Shel Shock,” July 14).
As Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver allegedly presided over one of the most corrupt legislatures in history, bought and paid for by trial-lawyer special interests. And New York is still recovering.
Silver allegedly used his office to enrich himself to the tune of $4 million, not to serve the people of New York.
With the court’s devastating decision to toss his conviction, the floodgates to more corruption have likely been opened. Tom Stebbins Albany
The Court of Appeals’ ruling to reverse Silver’s conviction is an outrage. The fact that he has been free since the guilty verdict is a disgrace.
Some say the ruling was due to the judge’s faulty directions to the jury,;others blame former US Attorney Preet Bharara. But the bottom line is the fix was in.
Our legal system is in question here. There is no integrity in the system if the wealthy and powerful on the inside can manipulate it.
The time has come for our legal system to be reined in. The powerhungry, corrupt system cannot be monitored from within. Justice is not blind for those on the inside. Bob Fishman Somers
It’s not really a shock that a politician can avoid jail time when an ordinary citizen can’t.
Even when politicians do go to prison, it’s not a prison full of hardened criminals. They do easy time. It’s the facts of life for the rich and politically connected.
Silver will never see the inside of a prison. It’s just politics. John Buonagura Stewart Manor
The stunning reversal of Silver’s corruption conviction is another black eye for the city and especially for Bharara.
This is another conviction reversed in appeals court that might be due to Bharara’s sloppy methods.
I’m not suggesting he isn’t a good attorney, but perhaps reading your name in Time magazine makes you forget to ensure your office correctly performs a simple function like properly charging a jury. And all because of the desire to convict the next big fish.
Bharara often seemed very eager to get his name in the papers.
Now the city suffers with an alleged criminal having his guilty verdict tossed. What a shame. Christopher Bisignano Staten Island