Sentence Lynn on the Merits

Pocono Record
July 22, 2012

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120722/NEWS04/207220301

Being locked up in jail must be a shock indeed to a man who lived and worked for decades in the rarefied atmosphere of high officials in the Roman Catholic Church. But just because he wore the mantle of the church doesn't mean Monsignor William Lynn, convicted last month of endangering children in a landmark priest-abuse case, should escape an appropriate sentence for his wrongdoing.

A jury convicted Lynn of one count of felony child endangerment among many accusations that in his position he knowingly shielded priests who were child molesters. He was the first U.S. church official convicted of endangerment.

The verdict stemmed from a case involving Lynn's tenure as secretary for the clergy in the Diocese of Philadelphia, under the leadership of then-Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua. Lynn handled priest assignments and abuse complaints.

Now Lynn is arguing that he should serve house arrest, community service, work release or probation. He's to be sentenced on Tuesday, and faces up to seven years in jail.

No one, be they celebrities, sports heroes or exalted religious leaders, should get softer sentences just because of who they are. Justice is supposed to be blind.

No doubt the sentencing judge will look at the spectrum of Lynn's life — the good he did, as well as the bad — in determining the price he will pay for his conviction. But the coveted position Lynn long enjoyed within the church and diocese should not in and of itself translate into leniency. He should be punished in accordance with the law.