Minister “Babsy” Grange erred in judgement

Jamaican government minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange erred in judgement

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Jamaica is teeming with crime and corruption, and incidences of crime is so widespread that the country’s justice system is backed up for months trying to adjudicate cases.

One of the delayed cases recently before the Jamaican courts is that of a prominent doctor, and former politician, Dr. Jephthah Ford. The doctor was arrested and charged in 2014, was charged for attempting to bribe a police officer to release two Surinamese men who had been caught with nearly $60 million, return the funds which they had confiscated.

Guilty and convicted

After the long delay Ford’s trial began in May this year, and following further delays he was eventually found guilty and convicted on October 25.

During the subsequent sentencing hearing of the doctor’s case some very high-profile Jamaicans, including a government minister, pleaded for the court to be lenient with him.

Minister sought leniency

Minister of Culture, Entertainment, Gender Affairs, and Sports, Olivia “Babsy” Grange sought the court’s leniency in not sentencing Ford to jail time as she believed doing this would be traumatic for hundreds of Jamaicans.

Admittedly, Minister “Babsy” Grange is one of the hardest working, more visible, ministers in the incumbent government’s Cabinet, but, she has erred in going to bat publicly for Dr. Ford. She cannot afford to sully her ministerial reputation.

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It’ not unusual for people of various areas of society to testify to the worth of individuals convicted in courts in Jamaica, and elsewhere for that matter. However, for a minister of government to do this for a convict who was actually caught on camera openly making a bribe to the police is disconcerting.

Plea is commendable, but….

Ford was likely a good friend of the minister. She admitted he was her family’s doctor, who was especially helpful in the medical care  offered to her late mother. Moreover, her attempt to serve as a character witness is in one instance commendable, as Ford was a former general election candidate for the opposition People National Party. However, regardless of how much she sympathizes with Ford, her plea isn’t coming from Olivia “Babsy” Grange, a private citizen, but from Olivia “Babsy” Grange, a government minister of rank.

Serving time in prison, especially in the crowded condition of the Jamaican prison system, is traumatic for all those sentenced to serve time, and equally traumatic for their friends, relatives and associates.

But, the majority of those who were sentenced, never had the privilege of a minister of government testifying to their good character in court.

Smacks of classism

It smacks of classism, when the poor man who steals food to feed his family, is arrested and convicted to hard labor, with no one, much more a government minister, to beg a judge to not sentence him to prison since he was desperately trying to put bread on his table.

It also seems poor judgement that against a background of rampant corruption in Jamaica, that a gifted doctor, who once sought to represent Jamaicans in parliament, assumed he could use his social status to bribe the police.

For a minister who is a member of an administration having an uphill task fighting crime and corruption in Jamaica, to be publicly asking for leniency for a man convicted of corruption, is unfortunate.

Erred trying to bribe police

People, including a retired assistant commissioner of police, who also pleaded for leniency for Ford, have attested to his positive character. This may be so. He may be a good, kind, and caring man and doctor, but he erred trying to bribe the police, although he may have thought this intervention was an act of goodwill towards the two Surinamese, who ironically were freed of their charges.

Ford broke the law. as much as the poor man who stole food to feed his family. The penalties for breaking any law by those in the upper echelons of society shouldn’t be any different than those from the poorer classes.

It’s well known that often politicians do use their position to intervene in the judicial system, seeking mercy on people they know, but this is usually done discreetly. It does seem unusual, and wrong, for a sitting minister to appeal for leniency in open court, especially when there’s damning evidence.

The onus is on Ford’s legal team to use their legal skills to get leniency for their client. The minister, shouldn’t appear to be publicly seeking a different course of justice for some people, regardless how much she cares for them, when, daily, justice is being meted out to others who haven’t the benefit of high profile leaders to plead on their behalf.