What should happen to Telcom companies that violated the constitution is the billion dollar question. Before we get to the part where I consider what should happen to them, here is how I see what has happened thus far.
What happened:
- Telcom companies violated the constitution.
- Bush administration as our government had an over sized role in this.
- People's rights were violated.
At a very high level, here is what should happen. This is not a rigorous legal argument. This is a simple fairness argument.
High level redress:
- Telcom companies who violated the constitution should be penalized.
- Bush administration and "unfortunately" our government should be penalized.
- People whose rights were violated should be compensated for the harm.
For the time being to keep things simple, let us not factor in the fact that the Telcom company lobbyists and their political contributions affect the people voting on this matter. We will add this to the mix later on.
If Telcom's did what they did without instigation, they and only they should be culpable. Since they did this on instigation, their penalty should be reduced. To what extent should be the basis of negotiation. If they are not penalized at all, we as a society are encouraging illegality when government encourages it. That is a slippery slope towards lawlessness.
Terms of negotiation:
- No complete immunity should be offered.
- Let the trials go through.
- The congress should negotiate the share of government responsibility and Telcom company responsibility in paying the jury awards.
- Perhaps offer some reasonable cap on awards to not penalize tax payers too much.
The Politics:
We very well know that some of the players who are writing the laws are not in a position to negotiate without a conflict of interest. Some of the Democrats have tacitly authorized the violation of our constitution. Several of the Democrats are also beholden to Telcom companies. What this means is that we won't get the deal that we would if this did not complicate matters. What this should not mean is that businesses and the government should be able to get away with violating the constitution. We should make a reasonable proposal that is hard to argue against. We need to reward leaders that help stop this blatant abuse of power and illegality.