Perhaps you remember, perhaps you don't, that day in April 2010 when 29 coal miners lost their lives.
The mine was called Upper Big Branch. It was owned by Massey Energy, whose CEO, Don Blankenship, appeared to be the model for almost every cartoon villain ever imagined. Or perhaps he served as the exemplar for James Bond villains - Dr. No, or Goldfinger. A man whose greed, callousness, and arrogance knew no bounds. A man so determined to have his way that he bought a West Virginia Supreme Court election, inspiring John Grisham to write The Appeal, and Laurence Leamer to write The Price of Justice.
Well, Blankenship was indicted today.
What's that old trope, about "the wheel of justice grinding slowly but exceeding fine?"
The indictment by Booth Goodwin, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, has been in the works for four long years. Subordinates and henchmen were indicted, pled guilty, went to prison. Between the UBB tragedy and the headlines about Blankenship palling around on the Riviera with one of the WV Supreme Court justices, and abetted by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against him and his company's business practices, he finally was forced to sell Massey and retire eight months after the disaster.
Here's the very first paragraph of the indictment:
Beginning no later than January 1, 2008 and continuing through April 9, 2010 (the "Indictment Period"), defendant DONALD L. BLANKENSHIP ('BLANKENSHIP"), the Chief Executive Officer ("CEO') and Chairman of the Board of Directors of coal producer Massey Energy Company ("Massey") conspired to commit and cause routine violations of mandatory federal mine safety standards at Massey's Upper Big Branch-South mine ("UBB").* Throughout the Indictment period, BLANKENSHIP himself closely managed UBB, the coal from which was critical to Massey's financial performance. BLANKENSHIP knew that UBB was committing hundreds of safety-law violations every year and that he had the ability to prevent most of the violations that UBB was committing. Yet he fostered and participated in an understanding that perpetuated UBB's practice of routine safety violations, in order to produce more coal, avoid the costs of following safety laws, and make more money.
Read it closely.
Note the last three words.
Make more money.
There are many things in this country that have me feeling angry and dismayed. The Wall Street banksters who cheerfully pay fines but never go to jail, despite the millions of people they have harmed. The companies, such as Duke Energy and the laughably-named Freedom Industries, that cut corners and endanger vast populations with their drive after the almighty dollar. The state governments, from my own well-loved West Virginia to Texas to Pennsylvania (and many more), who eagerly bend over to accommodate the billionaires and millionaires who want to rape their lands, their citizens, and their politics.
That's barely scratching the surface of the issues that outrage me in the United States of America circa 2014, but you get the idea.
This indictment fans the sputtering flame in my heart that justice is not an ephemeral concept, that evil - yes, honest-to-God evil - can be made to answer for its foul destruction, and that perseverance in the face of implacable foes is worth every drop of blood, every tear, every cry and scream and whimper when the weight seems unbearable any longer.
There is still a trial ahead. And you can be sure that Blankenship will wiggle, and squirm, and obfuscate, lie, suborn, and obstruct every effort to get him into a courtroom. And every eye will be on the jury, ordinary citizens who may be frightened, or bribed, or coerced into avoiding a righteous verdict.
But I will continue to believe that the 29 miners, their families, coal miners everywhere, and citizens will yet have an opportunity to rejoice when they hear those crucial words, "Guilty. Guilty. Guilty!"*
*(And thank you, Garry "Doonesbury" Trudeau! We have another instance where those words are utterly appropriate.)