Why I Secretly Celebrate when Rich People Get out of Jail.

Just a short thought today. 

Money corrupts. Money buys off politicians. Money distorts national dialogue. Money is the root of all evil.

But every once in a while, on those occasions when corrupt, morally bankrupt, vile, scumbags with money get out of jail, I am just a little bit happy. 

Now that Bill Cosby is out of jail, as evil as he is, I cannot help but feel just a little bit of that happiness. Why? Because his constitutional rights were violated, and the government cannot violate his rights (or anyone else's rights) to administer justice. He gave self-incriminating testimony under oath upon the promise that he would not be charged, and the government has to make good on that promise. Period. 

There are some people calling this a technicality, as though this were a small unimportant part of the law that allows Cosby to walk free today. Well, it was not. This is his right against self-incrimination at stake, and at a time when this right has been significantly weakened (as it was in the Supreme Court Case Salinas v. Texas, for example.), I'm going to celebrate every victory I can get.

But here's the thing. If rich people, who have all the best defendants and legal scholars that money can buy, lose their constitutional rights, what would make anybody think that the courts would preserve the rights of poor people with no better defense than an overworked and underpaid public defender? 

Yes, I know money corrupts, and the system of justice today allows the rich and powerful to get away with murder while the poor can't get away with smoking weed. And I would be remiss not to note that today's Supreme Court has elevated secret money transactions to the status of free speech (Citizens United, Americans for Prosperity, etc.), which only goes to show that money is continuing to corrupt American democratic institutions. 

But all things being equal, I am much more scared of the prospect that not even the finest lawyers in the nation, with the largest paychecks and the most prestigious law firms behind them, might find themselves completely unable to protect their clients' constitutional rights. On the day that that happens, we'll know the American experiment is in its last days. 

So, in the meantime, I will celebrate a win for even the worst of humans, so long as it is also a win for our rights.