No excuses for mob killings
Mob killer Frank Calabrese Sr. made an unusual argument in court last week before being sentenced to life in prison for killing 13 people for the Outfit.
The 71-year-old mobster denied killing anyone. But his attorney, Joseph Lopez, pointed out in a filing that "the victims were lifelong criminals . . . Society at large was not victimized; and, in some instances, was in fact benefitted from some of the activities."
Or, to rephrase the argument: "I didn't kill anyone, but even if I did, what's the big loss?"
Not something you hear every day, not even in a Chicago mob trial.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel wasn't amused, saying, "It is an appalling statement, showing a callousness I have rarely encountered."
We've heard folks try to excuse the Outfit: They kill only each other, they keep the peace, most Outfit murders were a long time ago.
In reply, we could point out that among the 18 mob murders in the Family Secrets case, some victims were innocents -- wrong place, wrong time. Others made their mistakes in life and paid the price. Still others were cold-blooded killers.
But really, that's beside the point.
Either we believe in the value of human life. Or we don't.
We believe in the rule of law. Or the rule of men.
We can romanticize the Chicago Outfit. Or we can look into the faces of the families of the victims -- families who packed a courtroom row at Calabrese's sentencing.
In their eyes are the Father's Day cards never sent, the dances never danced, the family dinners never eaten together.
In their eyes is a loss -- hundreds of holes in hundreds of hearts -- too big for words.
This is the true cost of the Outfit, the true cost to society.