Raj Rajaratnam and the Economic Crimes Sentencing Mess

This column in Forbes by Walter Pavlo, who himself served time for an economic crime, about the upcoming sentencing of insider trader Raj Rajaratnam reveals the chaos that marks the current state of white collar sentencing.

Should Rajaratnam get 20 or so years and die in prison for a first-time offense that didn't involve violence, as the government wants? Or should he make restitution and serve only a few years in prison, as some similar insider traders were required to and as Rajaratnam's lawyer recommends? How much should it matter that the other offenders Rajaratnam holds up as good comparisons pled guilty and cooperated, while he contested the charges aganst him at trial?

The similarities between drug sentencing and while collar sentencing are growing every day, and reformers should focus on building a coalition that can fix both at the same time -- or else neither might get fixed.

- Ingersoll