The attorney for Rayford Jackson told me something rather extraordinary. Richard Morgan had said earlier in the week that even in reaching a plea bargain with federal prosecutors, Jackson would not cooperate with the investigation. In other words, as opposed to James Rosendall who also admitted to passing around bribes for Synagro, Jackson wasn’t going to “take anyone down with him.” (It shows in their sentencing guidelines; Rosendall gets a year and Jackson gets up to five.) But I pressed Morgan on this topic and was told that not only did he not believe Jackson should cooperate, Morgan says he wouldn’t take any client who would. As I suggested that once Jackson had been caught perhaps it was in everyone’s best interest to clean up the mess and root out corruption, Morgan told me that he would hate to see “any politician good or bad be taken down by one of our own.”
Think about that. He’d rather allow illegal and corrupt behavior than expose it, the very act of exposing it apparently worse than the trangression brought to light. We’ve known for some time that on the street, there is nothing worse than being characterized as a snitch. Threatening hip-hop laden DVDs make the rounds which serve as warnings of what happens to those who squeal. Our prisons include quite a few inmates who’d rather do someone else’s time than rat them out. But I thought it was fascinating to see this fight for “street cred” find its way into the expensive suit of Rayford Jackson. I’ve feared that the prohibition against being a snitch has long cost Detroit too dearly in its fight against crime. Morgan’s logic has me wondering how much it might cost the city in its effort to move out the corrupt ravines that have too long swamped it.
You’ll see the interview with Morgan and a conversation with Sam Riddle on Sunday morning at 10 AM on Flashpoint.
-Devin
[...] No Snitches « Wdivflashpoint’s Weblog. Share and Enjoy: [...]
Good interviews this morning and nice post! Mr. Morgan’s comments represents what is wrong with Detroit. Don’t let scandals and crimes give the voters in Detroit a free pass. WE need to be criticized for the low quality of candidates we put on the ballot and then follow that up with poor decisions in the voting booth. Add to the mix that the majority of citizens don’t vote and we shouldn’t be suprised by the situation we are in. Hopefully, citizens of Detroit will be more active so we aren’t represented by nicely dressed thugs and scripture quoting criminals.