Does Justice Ever Find Closure in the United States?
By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon
When the Soviets thought the United States was ready to go to war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, diplomats at the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C. started burning and destroying documents and messages sent to and from Moscow. When a U.S. Embassy is evacuated, diplomats destroy computers and any other evidence the host country can gather and try to get intelligence from.
When the news of Dr. Sylvia Atkinson's arrest broke late Tuesday afternoon, many people believed her arrest and indictment would only be the tip of the iceberg. Reading through the indictment, Atkinson allegedly traded her influence for bribes that were cleverly called "campaign contributions." According to an article written by KGBT Channel 4, "Atkinson would also use some of the funds to finance the election campaigns of other local political candidates who would enhance Atkinson’s 'power in local politics, extend her influence on the Brownsville ISD Board, and enhance her ability to extract bribes in exchange for contracts.'" I can only assume those "other political candidates" would be in full code-red, DEFCON-1 mode. I would think these other candidates would be frantically deleting, shredding, burning, or destroying any communication or correspondence they may have from Dr. Atkinson. All over Brownsville people are saying Atkinson is the first of many other dominoes that will soon come tumbling down. If you believe the smoke-filled back room rumors, or the grumblings heard at local downtown watering holes, Atkinson's supposed tentacle-like reach extends to other school board seats and as far as city hall. Again, these are just rumors, not facts.
But will they? The United States is notorious for having scandal quietly fade into the ether. It wouldn't surprise me if this story will end up with the same mysterious non-conclusion that others do. This is not a Brownsville phenomena, nor is it limited to the Rio Grande Valley or to Texas. Recent history has proven things are forgotten and lost in the sands of time.
These issues are akin to waking up from a dream. When you first wake up, the dream is vivid and you can remember several details. As the minutes pass, the dream begins to fade to where eventually everything is lost in a haze and you find it difficult to remember what it is you actually dreamed.
In 2013, former 404th State District Judge Abel Limas was sentenced to six years in federal prison for racketeering. Judge Limas pleaded guilty to the charges in 2011. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of 6.7 million dollars. Eight others entered guilty pleas, including a former Texas State Representative, a former Cameron County District Attorney, a District Attorney Investigator, and several attorneys. In this case, called a "corrupt criminal enterprise" by the FBI and by those involved in the investigation, it is hard to believe a handful of people were brought to justice. I find it difficult to believe a criminal enterprise spanning several years would only involve eight people. What happened to all the other people involved in the bribery scandal? The case quietly went away, and even though some who were found guilty are serving prison sentences, it is apparent we will never know just how far the corruption went.
A few years ago, the school district was involved in a scandal that involved a McAllen-based company and the sale of tainted barbacoa. According to the allegations, the meat did not meet USDA guidelines for safety and quality. More rumors and grumblings circulated, alleging school board members were involved in approving the sale, going as far as saying investors and school board members were invited to tour the meat processing facility in Mexico. The USDA investigators were all set to interview the one person who could shed light on the whole scenario — the director of the district's food and nutrition service department, but he was found in his vehicle with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators ruled his death a suicide. To date, there has been no resolution to the entire situation.
These are just two of the many examples of legal issues never going through the justice system to their conclusion. Too many loose ends remain. Too many issues are left unresolved. At every level of the local justice system, the people are left staring into a dark void with their unanswered questions echoing back at them.
Are all parties involved in a scandal ever brought to justice, or is the justice system content with offering the people a few sacrificial lambs to make it seem as if justice is served? Are investigations ever seen through to the end, or are they happy with getting it "close enough?"
Are we partly to blame? Has the American attention span become so short that we don't even care what the end result of these scandals are?
Is the system too big to fail? Would it all come crumbling down if we uncovered just how much corruption lies beneath the surface?
Perhaps we'll never know.
When the Soviets thought the United States was ready to go to war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, diplomats at the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C. started burning and destroying documents and messages sent to and from Moscow. When a U.S. Embassy is evacuated, diplomats destroy computers and any other evidence the host country can gather and try to get intelligence from.
When the news of Dr. Sylvia Atkinson's arrest broke late Tuesday afternoon, many people believed her arrest and indictment would only be the tip of the iceberg. Reading through the indictment, Atkinson allegedly traded her influence for bribes that were cleverly called "campaign contributions." According to an article written by KGBT Channel 4, "Atkinson would also use some of the funds to finance the election campaigns of other local political candidates who would enhance Atkinson’s 'power in local politics, extend her influence on the Brownsville ISD Board, and enhance her ability to extract bribes in exchange for contracts.'" I can only assume those "other political candidates" would be in full code-red, DEFCON-1 mode. I would think these other candidates would be frantically deleting, shredding, burning, or destroying any communication or correspondence they may have from Dr. Atkinson. All over Brownsville people are saying Atkinson is the first of many other dominoes that will soon come tumbling down. If you believe the smoke-filled back room rumors, or the grumblings heard at local downtown watering holes, Atkinson's supposed tentacle-like reach extends to other school board seats and as far as city hall. Again, these are just rumors, not facts.
But will they? The United States is notorious for having scandal quietly fade into the ether. It wouldn't surprise me if this story will end up with the same mysterious non-conclusion that others do. This is not a Brownsville phenomena, nor is it limited to the Rio Grande Valley or to Texas. Recent history has proven things are forgotten and lost in the sands of time.
These issues are akin to waking up from a dream. When you first wake up, the dream is vivid and you can remember several details. As the minutes pass, the dream begins to fade to where eventually everything is lost in a haze and you find it difficult to remember what it is you actually dreamed.
In 2013, former 404th State District Judge Abel Limas was sentenced to six years in federal prison for racketeering. Judge Limas pleaded guilty to the charges in 2011. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of 6.7 million dollars. Eight others entered guilty pleas, including a former Texas State Representative, a former Cameron County District Attorney, a District Attorney Investigator, and several attorneys. In this case, called a "corrupt criminal enterprise" by the FBI and by those involved in the investigation, it is hard to believe a handful of people were brought to justice. I find it difficult to believe a criminal enterprise spanning several years would only involve eight people. What happened to all the other people involved in the bribery scandal? The case quietly went away, and even though some who were found guilty are serving prison sentences, it is apparent we will never know just how far the corruption went.
A few years ago, the school district was involved in a scandal that involved a McAllen-based company and the sale of tainted barbacoa. According to the allegations, the meat did not meet USDA guidelines for safety and quality. More rumors and grumblings circulated, alleging school board members were involved in approving the sale, going as far as saying investors and school board members were invited to tour the meat processing facility in Mexico. The USDA investigators were all set to interview the one person who could shed light on the whole scenario — the director of the district's food and nutrition service department, but he was found in his vehicle with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators ruled his death a suicide. To date, there has been no resolution to the entire situation.
These are just two of the many examples of legal issues never going through the justice system to their conclusion. Too many loose ends remain. Too many issues are left unresolved. At every level of the local justice system, the people are left staring into a dark void with their unanswered questions echoing back at them.
Are all parties involved in a scandal ever brought to justice, or is the justice system content with offering the people a few sacrificial lambs to make it seem as if justice is served? Are investigations ever seen through to the end, or are they happy with getting it "close enough?"
Are we partly to blame? Has the American attention span become so short that we don't even care what the end result of these scandals are?
Is the system too big to fail? Would it all come crumbling down if we uncovered just how much corruption lies beneath the surface?
Perhaps we'll never know.
Conrado Cantu network didn't bring down many other people also
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right. There are so many other examples of these investigations fading away. It really is sad justice is never really completely served.
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