Will the preacher walk?
Plea deal for Acen Phillips rubs some people wrong way
Rocky Mountain News
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Word of a proposed plea bargain in the insurance fraud case involving the Rev. Acen Phillips has drawn outcries from some who feel justice cannot possibly be served unless the 72-year-old preacher goes to jail. That sentiment is understandable given the magnitude of the alleged fraud and the plight of the victims, but also premature.
Until the rationale for the deal is made public, it's simply not fair to reach any firm conclusion.
As it happens, the attorney general's office is unwilling to offer its justifications for the plea agreement prior to presenting them to Arapahoe County District Court Judge Charles Pratt at a June 5 hearing. So the uncertainty will linger for the next few weeks.
Phillips faces 12 felony charges, including forgery, theft and attempted theft of more that $575,000 from AIG Life Insurance Co. Attorney General John Suthers has accused Phillips of forging beneficiary documents to collect life insurance claims from AIG. In a federal civil lawsuit, AIG claimed that Phillips had filed more than $1 million of fraudulent claims.
Under the deal worked out between Suthers' staff and Phillips' attorney, the preacher would plead guilty to one count and be sentenced to probation instead of jail time; the federal civil lawsuit would be dismissed; he would be ordered to make restitution of an as-yet-undetermined amount of money; and federal prosecutors would agree not to pursue further charges against him.
Sounds like a deal weighted in Phillips' favor, right?
Yes, but on the other hand, this plea bargain would not preclude victims who either paid Phillips but have no coverage or whose legitimate claim was not paid by AIG from pursuing civil claims against him.
Plea bargains are often employed because they are the most expedient way to achieve some degree of justice when the outcome of a trial is not as certain as it may appear to those on the outside. We won't know for sure until the June hearing, but here are some factors that may be influencing the resolution Pratt will be asked to approve:
* Even if he were convicted on multiple counts, Phillips would receive concurrent sentences because of the way the charges were filed. Any jail time would be compressed, at best.
* Despite a personal history that includes controversial dealings in virtually every decade since the '60s, Phillips has no prior criminal convictions. That makes him a first-time offender in the eyes of the law. As such, he would not likely receive anything close to a maximum sentence if convicted, and might get probation anyway.
* Phillips' age, pastoral status and reputation as a crusader for the downtrodden might help sway a jury into giving him the benefit of the doubt at trial.
* By making restitution part of the deal, the state ensures that AIG will recover a significant amount of the money it was duped into paying. Such recovery would not be guaranteed if either the criminal charges or the civil case were to proceed.
* And finally, probation itself is not a free ride. It comes with specific terms which, if violated, result in immediate jail time.
When we first heard of this possible plea deal, we were surprised and dismayed. If the allegations against Phillips were true, we thought, he rates as a scoundrel. But after considering all aspects of the case, we've got to admit that a plea bargain may be justified after all.
At the very least, the attorney general's office should be given its chance to make its case in June, when Judge Pratt will have the final word.
How does he 'rate' on your 'moral' scale?
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In exchange for obedience, Christianity promises salvation in an afterlife; but in order to elicit obedience through this promise, Christianity must convince people that they need salvation, that there is something to be saved from. Christianity has nothing to offer a happy person living in a natural, intelligible universe. If Christianity is to gain a motivational foothold, it must declare war on earthly pleasure and happiness, and this, historically, has been its precise course of action. In the eyes of Christianity, woman(man) is sinful and helpless in the face of God, and is potential fuel for the flames of hell. Just as Christianity must destroy reason before it can introduce faith, so it must destroy happiness before it can introduce salvation.
-- George H Smith, Atheism: The Case Against God
