The breadth and scope of New Mexico’s corruption is breathtaking from elected officials in both parties to our lenient and permissive judges, it is time to clean house in the halls of government.
In a stunning announcement of the sentencing of Former New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran following her guilty plea to embezzling and gambling away campaign-finance money, Judge T. Glenn Ellington gave Duran 30 days jail time and an order to apologize to the citizens of New Mexico and he thought he was being tough.
Really? That’s it, that’s all the judge could come up with? Judge Ellington should be ashamed of himself and should immediately resign from the bench.
Sure there’s probation, and she has to do public speaking to explain to schoolchildren that you shouldn’t embezzle and gamble with other people’s money. She also has to pay back $14,000 but keeps her $60,000 a year salary. What I would like to know is what about the more than $400,000 she withdrew at casinos?
But this is one of New Mexico’s top elected officials charged with among other things elections and the election money. Judge Ellington stated that it was time to stop corruption in New Mexico and yet he gave her 30 days in jail, wow, talk about tough. In fairness, the judge is going to make Duran start her sentence before Christmas, that’ll teach those criminal politicians.
Seriously though, this sentence was pathetic and it seems to me it’s about time to clear the benches of all currently sitting judges and start fresh. Judges in New Mexico are far too often incapable of making sound and wise decisions and where is Governor Susanna Martinez in all this?
The Bible clearly teaches that when our judges are incapable of delivering justice it is a sign of a society that has turned away from God. Judges in New Mexico are too lenient toward drunk drivers, toward the criminally violent and toward corrupt politicians.
Where are the leaders in New Mexico who will say enough is enough? Who are willing to do the unpopular thing and start dealing with corruption like a cancer, treating it aggressively wherever it should show up?
