Justin Elliott at Talking Points Memo reports that alleged senatorial phone tapper James O'Keefe has been grounded by a judge."[T]he judge in the case has now ordered that he reside with his parents until the next hearing," we're told. "Magistrate Judge Louis Moore made the order Tuesday as part of the conditions of release for O'Keefe, 25. (Read them here)"
But here's the part that caught my eye:
It's not clear where O'Keefe, who hasn't said much publicly since getting out jail, is right now. But his father, the elder James O'Keefe, told the AP "I'm confident this was poor judgment ... but not much more." James and Deborah O'Keefe live in New Jersey, the state where Moore ordered the younger O'Keefe to remain while out on bond.
I'm hearing this way too often. Yes, he committed a crime -- but it's just bad judgment... So, to be clear, we shouldn't be too hard on O'Keefe because he's not criminally insane. That there's what you call yer sound legal reasoning.
Would the people making this argument say the same about the ACORN workers O'Keefe taped? Because that's what a congressional report on the organization basically found.
In fact, this could be said of any crime committed by anyone who's not a psycho- or sociopath. "Yeah, he stole a car and caused a pile up on the interstate, but that's just bad judgment. Kids these days and their crazy stunts, huh?"
How bad was O'Keefe's judgment? Pretty bad. According to his bio, "O'Keefe attended UCLA Law School for one year before returning to his investigative journalism career full time." So he knew he was committing a crime and he did it anyway.
That's not "bad judgment," that's criminal intent. And anyone defending him now ought to either admit that or cut every first offender from now on and forever the same slack. The "throw the book at 'em" crowd doesn't get to plead for leniency just because, this time, the criminal is one of their own.
