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| HASTERT: Is this now lis legacy? |
One
that actually puts its occupant in line for the U.S. presidency in the event of
an emergency that takes down both the president and vice-president.
BUT
JUST AS Dan Rostenkowski fell from grace and the notion he was the all-powerful
chairman of House ways and means, Hastert also took a plunge in reputation.
To
the point where he probably has experienced an even bigger fall. Which is illustrated
by the new law in Illinois approved by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that relates to
statute of limitations for people to be charged with sex crimes.
It
now seems that aggravated criminal sexual assault and abuse are now the equivalent
of murder – as in there’s no amount of time that can pass without someone
running the risk of criminal prosecution.
Come
Jan. 1, anybody facing criminal suspicion can face prosecution if state’s
attorney officials somewhere are capable of putting together a criminal case.
Whereas it used to be that prosecutors had 10 years to put together a criminal
case – AND the case had to be reported to police within three years of the
alleged incident’s occurrence.
THIS
LAW WAS enacted because of political people who wanted to appear to be doing
something significant in response to the predicament caused by Hastert – who once
was a high school teacher and wrestling coach who later in life had some of his
former students claim he took liberties with them of a sexual nature.
The
incidents supposedly occurred back when Hastert was their teacher and coach in
the late 1960s and early 1970s, but it wasn’t until the mid-2010s that the
allegations became public.
Which
meant that even if sufficient evidence could be procured, so much time had
passed that Hastert was never in danger of criminal prosecution.
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| PRITZKER: Signed the measure into law |
But
it was because of actions that Hastert took to try to keep people from talking
about things that eventually resulted in J. Dennis being found guilty of
something criminal – which resulted in him getting a prison term (he’s been
free for a couple of years now) and becoming the highest-ranking government
official to ever have to serve time for a crime. While also proving the notion that it's the cover-up, and not the crime itself, that gets you in the most trouble!
WHICH
HAVE SOME people convinced that something wasn’t fair. Which also is what
motivated legislators of both Republican and Democratic partisan leanings to
sponsor the bill that passed overwhelmingly this spring before getting Pritzker’s
approval last week.
So
now, theoretically, we could have prosecuted Hastert for the crime, instead of
the technicality. Although I have to admit to being a bit wary of such
incidents.
Usually
because the passage of so much time means the actual evidence becomes weaker, more
heresay, to be honest.
To
be honest, the strongest criminal cases are the ones whose defendants literally
are caught in the act right at the time of their alleged criminal occurrence.
WHICH
IS THE point of statute of limitations laws – acknowledging that there are some
instances where it is not practical to punish someone for something that
happened many years ago and where people might have been too ashamed to talk
about it at the time of occurrence.
Although
some see that as a good thing (it means sexual predators cannot escape their
actions ever) and a bad (people may wind up getting prosecuted and convicted based
on testimony from people whose memories may not be quite as accurate as they
once were due to the passage of time).
Not
that I don’t doubt some people aren’t going to let that possibility concern
them – they may want more prosecution, regardless of how solid the charges may
be.
And
Hastert’s contribution to our public discourse may well be something he did
long before his 8 years as House Speaker (and 20 years in Congress overall) back in the days when he was a nobody
to the masses – and “coach” to a select few individuals living out in what some
of us would have dismissed as “the boonies” of the Chicago area.
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