Corruption: the gift that keeps on giving

In light of the unfolding Republican corruption scandals of late, it's worth remembering the terrible and ongoing cost of abusing the public trust:

If you're confronting a 30-year collaboration between the FBI and powerful mobsters who've sat at your kitchen table with guns and knives drawn, you'd probably be inclined to wait for some judicial acknowledgment of the corruption before filing a lawsuit -- particularly if your previous attempt at official redress nearly got you and your family whacked.

But today a three-judge panel (all Republican-appointees) didn't see it that way. They ruled that the two-year statute of limitations had expired, and that Rakes and his wife should have sued when press reports first linked the FBI to the mobsters, instead of waiting for a judge to confirm the conspiracy.

The fact that the judges were Republicans is probably irrelevant, and I can't evaluate what's likely a pretty well-defined limitations statute. But the abuse of public trust is a very serious crime, with real human impact whether it involves civil servants or elected officials.

It seems absurd that you can get life for carjacking or selling LSD, but Connolly (the FBI agent in the case above) got off with 10 years for letting the mafia run rampant around Boston and giving passing along information that lead to multiple people being assasinated.