W.R. Grace: The epitome of a broken legal system from a functioning standpoint

"Not Guilty" was the verdict as read by the jury May 8th, evidence no doubt to the lack of evidence available to them in the trial, which by no means was lacking in abundance, but rather, excluded by the trial's judge: Donald Malloy. For those unaware, the four remaining executives of the W.R. Grace Company still alive enough to stand trial for environmental crimes charges were acquitted on all charges of conspiracy to knowingly cover up the violation of the Federal Clean Air act, as well as the knowing endangerment of human lives. While a not guilty verdict implies a legal innocence, the actions of the W.R. Grace Co. towards the residents of the surrounding villages of Libby are the very definition of what should be illegal, not the evolution of dodgy cunning legal precedence.

There are a few things that need to be considered before rendering an opinion on the jury's decision, but of utmost importance is Judge Molloy's decision to bar forty-six of the fifty-three items presented as evidence from the prosecution's case, given the absurd reasoning he states for doing so. Below is an excerpt from Judge Molloy’s ruling.

"The Court has a concern that the potential for confusion lurks elsewhere in the government's proffered exhibits, particularly in light of the manner in which the government has presented its case to date. The prosecution's practice of presenting incomplete proof calculated to exclude all evidence adverse to its litigation position, while permissible as a trial tactic, does not induce confidence that the government will eschew the opportunity to argue misleading inferences from documents admitted without either party having an opportunity to examine a witness who can help contextualize the exhibits.”

"While they show the Defendants' knowledge, the government has made clear that it has in mind for them another purpose: to argue that the company's inclination toward discretion in its internal discussion of potential liability issues involving its finished commercial products is in fact evidence of a sinister agreement to defraud the United States and cause releases in and around Libby. The evidence does not support the inference. The potential for confusion of issues and undue prejudice outweighs the limited probative value of the memos."

The only potential for confusion I am able to gather from this statement is the murky wordiness of this overtly confusing rhetoric. If I may gather from the pretentiousness of his Honor’s logic, evident in the ridiculous effort taken to confuse the issue, the Judge is stating that he finds the jury incapable of interpreting the evidence in regards to the charges, and further that he himself fails to see the relevancy of this evidence in regards to the charges, despite his acknowledgment that it proves the defendants were aware of their actions. I am glad I took a foreign language in college to prepare me for my work with translations!

It is the duty of the jury to decide what occurred, not the duty of the judge to filter the available facts, and if this is indeed the case, that the Judge is charged with this overly empowering right, than the entire legal system needs to be retooled! If the Judge is allowed the right to dismiss evidence, than by no means is any American judged in the eyes of the law by their peers; but rather, through the biased eyes of their Judge.

The dismissed evidence was mostly intra-office correspondence; memos stating the outright admission of their deadly practices in print. This, however, was not at trial in the case according to the Judge, because none of the memos the prosecution presented to him dealt with a direct conspiracy to violate the Federal Clean Air Act, a narrow minded interpretation indeed! And that is my problem with the law, the narrow minded, almost mathematical approach at play determining justice in our society, as if only a certain number of variables need to be met to defeat any sordid equation. According to the law Judge Molloy may be correct with his narrow minded interpretation, but this is the very law which has determined W.R. Grace has done nothing wrong. I say the laws on the books even beg of such actions. It’s the system of justice which needs addressing. No way does a civilized society foster such corrupted jurisprudence, which says a lot for our civility. That a company can make themselves billionaires knowingly poisoning so many through such deceptive, cheek in tongue logic, only goes to show how far we have fallen as a society. There are those who say that our system of justice is the best in the world, that there are country’s who have it far worse than we could ever imagine. The latter no doubt is indeed in its obviousness true, but such concessionary logic is insulting when applied in regards to the supposed leader of the free world. Freedom is something that was earned, many years ago by our forefathers, but the very forces which brought on their great indignation towards their oppressors have come full circle, enacting applicable similar forms of injustice on the very people who made this country once great. The ones who drove this country to greatness were not millionaires with the power and capabilities of skirting the law, but hard working, innovative individuals, who lived by the sweat of their brow! That is lost in this injustice, as all that’s left is the scar of the dollar and the unknowable lives affected by this tragedy.

America the beautiful, no more.

It’s sad beyond all hell.