by Rob Schofield, originally posted on May 17, 2016

There are a lot of serious indictments that can be leveled at a public official. Corruption, ineptitude, disloyalty – the list of potential offenses is a lengthy one. At some basic level, however, it’s hard to imagine a more damning allegation than that he or she knowingly jeopardized the physical health and wellbeing of his or her constituents.

Several years ago, the Governor of Illinois went to jail as a result of a bribery scandal that took place during his tenure as Secretary of State. What made his crime so heinous and universally decried, however, was not so much the actual offense – the sale of truck driver licenses to unqualified individuals – it was fact that one such sale led to the death of six children in a minivan that was rear-ended by one of the unqualified drivers.