Steve Skurka on Lord Black

I have become somewhat disillusioned with American justice because the Duke non rape case and The vindictive prosecution of Lord Black. Electing prosecutors is probably not such a good idea. American Justice also overcharges and then gives long sentences. I think Canadian sentences for violent crime are in adequate, but I think the US has gone overboard. Conrad Black was ultimately tried by a jury on a series of fraud counts totalling $60 million in relation to alleged improper non-competition payments. By the conclusion of the appeal process, Black managed to overcome 99 per cent of the fraud alleged in his indictment. His share of payment in the proven fraud amounted to $285,000. He had an additional conviction for obstruction of justice for a crime committed entirely under Canadian jurisdiction. Eddie Greenspan, one of Black's trial lawyers, described ''everyone talking in terms of forty years'' if Conrad Black was convicted of each charge he faced. In the end, he has served about three years in a couple of federal prisons. Conrad Black's case also helped to expose the failings of a severely flawed U.S. justice system. It is a system that unfairly favours the prosecution and is desperately in need of reform.