A federal judge today sentenced Bernard Madoff to 150 years in a place where he can think about the men, women, children, charities, museums, and clubs he took billions from.
The event puts Blawgletter in mind of Dante, whose Divine Comedy consigned fraudulent advisors to the eighth — next-to-last — circle of Hell. (Satan himself occupied the bottom-most ninth.)
But a cruel reality intrudes on Judge Denny Chin's ruling – the fact that a great many people lost life savings because they trusted Mr. Madoff and his helpers. A $60 billion plus fraud couldn't last without aid and support from those enablers, who profited from their fiduciary crapulence.
Where can victims — including a 60-plus woman who now eats sometimes out of a dumpster — turn?
Critics of tort liability would say too bad, so sad — leave the "deep pockets" alone. God forbid suing someone less culpable because that someone can pay damages.
