No right to hope
I was listening this morning to the statement Joseph T. LePore made before the court in advance of his sentencing in the Seton Hall fire case. A sentence of five years with only 16 months of jail time guaranteed seems like an unjust gift. His statement only made the mercy of the court seem more unjust.
He said that he was sorry. None of us can judge a man's heart. We leave that to God.
But he also said, to the families of the dead and the burned and scarred vitims, that he "hoped they could move on.'' My God. LePore has no right to hope that, and in a moral sense, if not a legal one, less right to say it out loud.
He hopes they can move on, as if the pain and scars and loss of life are something about which anyone can say, "Easy come, easy go.'' Maybe it would have been better to just say nothing than to be arrogant even in contrition.
He said that he was sorry. None of us can judge a man's heart. We leave that to God.
But he also said, to the families of the dead and the burned and scarred vitims, that he "hoped they could move on.'' My God. LePore has no right to hope that, and in a moral sense, if not a legal one, less right to say it out loud.
He hopes they can move on, as if the pain and scars and loss of life are something about which anyone can say, "Easy come, easy go.'' Maybe it would have been better to just say nothing than to be arrogant even in contrition.
posted by Michael Riley at 1:43 PM
3 Comments:
That's what jumped out at me - "move on" - as if it were a high school break-up.
That's it, adolescent. I wonder if he will ever grow up and realize the enormity of what he has done.
I agree, it was a incredibly stupid and heartless thing to say.
But it wasn't Joe Lepore who said it... it was the other coward, Sean Ryan.
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