Lord Black – Victim of the Government’s Anti-Business Jihad

As you likely know by now, Lord Conrad Black, former CEO of Hollinger International and owner of, among other media properties, The Chicago Sun Times and The National Post, was convicted last week on 3 counts of money laundering and 1 count of obstruction of justice. He was acquitted on the remaining 9 counts of the indictment against him, including the standard prosecutor’s overreach RICO charge. The case against Lord Black is yet another step in the troubling trend of the criminalization of business activity. Not satisfied with seeking traditional civil remedies when questionable business decisions cause losses to investors, the government has chosen to pursue a jihad against easily vilified targets such as Bernie Ebbers, Jeff Skilling, and now Lord Black. I do not presume to excuse the deals that wwere the subject of the prosecution, but do question whether criminal prosecution is the most appropriate means of redressing such transgressions. Tom Kirkendall, of the always interesting blog Houston’s Clear Thinkers, has posted this discussion, in which he takes down the prosecution far more effectively.