The Jutice System: Enemy to Vacation Freedom

I think that we can all agree that the "wide view" purpose of our justice system is to not only find and prosecute those who break the law, but is also in place to assure that those convicted of crimes are not denied the opportunity to flee the country for extended vacations before said felon's sentencing.

Oh, wait...maybe just Scrushy attorney Terry Butts thinks that:

"The government's filing shows a total lack of compassion to try to keep Richard Scrushy from taking a long planned family vacation."

We're sorry, Mr. Scrushy. If we knew that six federal convictions would have impeded on your travel plans, we would have never bothered bringing you to trial.

The government filing in question is an attempt by U.S. attorney Louis Franklin to keep Scrushy from leaving the country. Franklin cites that not only does Scrushy have access to gross amounts of money, but he and his lawyers have seemingly not accepted that he's a convicted felon:

In his filing Thursday, Franklin said Scrushy "has not accepted responsibility of his actions." As an example he quoted a statement Butts made at the end of the trial when he called the verdict "the worst miscarriage of justice since General Sherman burned Atlanta."

This analogy is only slightly less intellectually insulting than Fred Gray's (unsuccessful) attempt to invoke Dr. Martin Luther King's memory in his closing statements during Scrushy's trial.

If the recent motion is successful, we expect the Scrushy legal team to appeal, citing either the plight of the Native Americans removed from their homes during the 1800's or the Salem witch trials as their reasoning for a new hearing.