Madoff Convinces Judge

In a recent AP article, Rachel Beck, an admired columnist of mine, wrote a justification that Bernie Madoff, the investment advisor who is alleged to have bilked thousands of people from billions of dollars, should not be put in jail while awaiting trail. She claims that putting Madoff in the slammer would inhibit him from cooperating with officials who need to obtain information from him.

Today, it seems that Roland J. Ellis, magistrate judge for the Southern U.S. District of New York agrees with Beck, though perhaps not for the same reasons. In a 22-page report, the judge rebuffed federal prosecutors who claim that Madoff poses a flight risk and that the current conditions of his release do not protect the safety of the community. The prosecution wants Madoff in jail now, not in his apartment.

Both Beck and Ellis are wrong and curiously naïve. Their logic does not take into account the vast scope of the crime which Madoff is alleged to have committed. He doesn’t deserve the privilege of hiding in the luxury of his multi-million dollar Manhattan digs, while people accused of much lesser offenses sweat it out in jail.