This is no time for Chabad and haredim to be rejoicing.
Here's why you shouldn't rejoice:
1. Both the defense and the prosecution agree there were minors working in the plant.
2. Rubashkin's defense was primarily that other Agriprocessors employees were responsible for the crimes. First among those employees is Sholom Rubashkin's brother Heshy, mentioned many times during the trial.
3. In other words, the person ultimately responsible for those minors working in Agriprocessors according to Sholom Rubashkin is Heshy Rubashkin.
4. The prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Sholom Rubashkin knew minors worked in the plant. This failure of proof is due in large part to incompetence by Iowa's Attorney General and his staff. It would be hard to put on a weaker prosecution than Iowa did.
5. There are several very credible witnesses who told Sholom Rubashkin that minors were working in Agriprocessors. Those witnesses were not interviewed by the Attorney General's office and they were not asked to testify. Why?
6. Primarily because each witness would have required transportation and lodging, and that would have cost the state several thousand dollars, and the state, I've been led to believe, did not want to spend the money. One witness even called the AG's office and asked if they wanted him to testify. We'll get back to you if we need you, was the response. But Iowa did not get back to the witness, and they did not contact the other witnesses I mentioned. That meant jurors had to judge Rubashkin based on the testimony of Matthew Derrik, a man whose credibility was questionable in the eyes of many.
7. At any rate Rubashkin's defense team pointed their collective finger at Heshy Rubashkin, who like his brother Sholom was an Agriprocessors VP.
8. Does it make you feel any better about Agriprocessors labor practices if the documented abuses are Heshy's fault rather than Sholom's?
9. If it does make you feel better, I posit there is something drastically wrong with your moral compass.
Now a bit of housekeeping.
I'm sorry I was late posting the verdict. I had an appointment with a doctor that I could not cancel, and then a nursing home visit I needed to make.
I checked in between the doctor and the nursing home but no verdict had been reached. Ten minutes later that changed, but I didn't see that until I got back home just before 3:00 pm.
I'm sorry I let you all down on this.