Supreme Court: Too Little, WAY too late.

The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously over turned the conviction of accounting/consulting firm Arthur Andersen. Three years after the original verdict, The Court concedes serious errors were made.

Andersen used to employ 28,000 people. Today they employ about 200 (most of them are involved with litigation). Ironically, Andersen was convicted of obstruction of justice, when the SEC decided to finally do something about Enron. The conviction came after it was revealed Andersen shredded documents from its Enron files. About one ton's worth. One ton. At first, that seems like a whole lot of paper. However, Enron was Andersen's biggest client and Enron was, at the time, the world's seventh largest energy company. One ton is the equivalent to a small two door compact sports car. Moreover, the charges were alleged against a few managers in Andersen's Houston office, not the entire company, which had firms nationwide. Surely prosecutors knew that a conviction would put Andersen as a whole out of business, as so many people were financially devastated when Enron collapsed. Enron resulted in America's biggest bankruptcy, which took down even more than just the company, its 5,000 employees, and investors when it went belly up.

We still anxiously await the convictions of Kenneth Lay and Jeff Skilling.

Personally, I think Andersen was guilty as hell in its relationship with Enron. That isn't the point. The point is that the wheels of justice can turn so slowly in this country that justice doesn't arrive until the defendant no longer exists. I know we are talking about one court, 12 people, deciding a multitude of the nation's most important cases. However, when the financial well being of nearly 28,000 people are involved, you would think it could get bumped up on the court's "To Do" list.

Even more troubling is the fact that there was not one dissenting vote in overturning the conviction, the decision came only one month after finally hearing the case, and Chief Justice William Rehnquist was apparently so appalled with the original verdict that he wrote the eleven page decision himself.

Remember when Bush and Gore were whining about whose turn it was to play president after the 2000 election? The Supreme Court reaction back then was quite swift. In fact, the arguments and decision were carried live, over radio, which before had never been done.

I haven't thought of the 12 top justices in this country as just another pack of glory hound politicians, but now I'm starting wonder.