Letters, we get letters.
The Judge who will sentence former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife Sandi continues to be greeted by a full inbox of letters both supporting and condemning the former power couple.
“He is a crook. He is a fraud,” Aurora resident Marianne Bartkowski wrote Judge Amy Berman Jackson. “He is one of the worst politicians from the State of Illinois. To sentence him with leniency would further promote the corruptness in Chicago.”
Some letters ask for compassion. Nancy Ellis, a retired Chicago Public School Principal, wrote of the help Jackson offered in obtaining a NASA grant for her school, Simon Guggenheim, located in the Englewood neighborhood.
“Congressman Jackson enabled our students to experience educational experiences unheard of in our region,” she wrote. “Today, many of those students are adults and have successful careers, because of this experience.”
Other correspondents note the plight of the Jackson children.
“Although the Jackson have failed to protect and secure their children’s lives, please consider the authority God has granted you over all their lives,” wrote Yolanda Wade of Chattanooga, TN. “While engaging in illegal activity, I’m sure neither parent ever imagined that their unlawful behavior would ever jeopardize the well-being of their children.”
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But many continue to focus on the couple’s criminal activity.
“I believe that it is very important that Jesse Jackson Jr. receive the consequences that anyone who steals $750,000 should receive,” wrote Carol Johnson. “He should not have any more special considerations than anyone else should get.”
William Pappas asked the judge to send a message with a stiff sentence.
“Do not be dissuaded by appeals from Jackson patrons about what a good fellow Jackson has been,” Pappas wrote. “He does not deserve lenient compassion. Political corruption has got to stop in Illinois….please.”
Jackson and his wife are to be sentenced in Washington next month.
