Paul Craig Roberts: Whom Does The Law Serve?

Is the law controlled by the rich? The political left knew that Michael Milken was guilty, because the rich junk bond king financed takeovers of corporations that threw workers out of jobs. Leftists accepted the "Justice Department's fanciful claims" that the Exxon Valdez oil spill was a criminal act, not an accident for which civil damages were the remedy. Leona Helmsley was guilty, because she was a rich bitch. So was Martha Stewart. The left-wing was firm: All white people in prison are guilty, and the only reason they are in prison is that they are so obviously guilty that the system could not let them off. In other words, they were so audacious in their crimes that the crimes could not be covered up. The same mentality now dominates discussions of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case. Strauss-Kahn, who at the time of his highly publicized arrest headed the International Monetary Fund, and the expected winner of the next French presidential election, was arrested on sexual abuse and attempted rape charges on the word of an immigrant hotel maid in New York. While the police are required to respond to the charges by questioning the accused, they are not supposed to make a public spectacle of him in order to create the impression that he is guilty before he is even charged.