Molly Ivins: Flawed Justice

Posted April 20, 2006.

As Zacarias Moussaoui and Ken Skilling illustrate, the quality of justice in this country is deeply affected by how much you can pay for it.

"Compare and contrast," read the directions for essay exams in the old college blue books. Compare and contrast the trials of Zacarias Moussaoui and Jeffrey Skilling.

Moussaoui appears to be headed for the death penalty, despite having an alibi of the lead-pipe-cinch variety. He was in jail on Sept. 11, 2001, so we know he wasn't out hijacking jets and killing people. He also appears to be seriously crazy, or at the very least a chronic liar, but that's a separate argument.