How the Mighty Are Fallen
Last week former Federal Court Judge, Marcus Einfeld, was sentenced to a maximum of 3 years jail for attempting to pervert the course of justice by lying (on oath and in a statement) about a speeding ticket in the sum of $77.
For a retired judge on a judicial pension of about $200,000 per year to lie about such a matter is almost inexplicable.
While Einfeld was in danger of losing his drive’s licence had he originally paid the fine, even that matter does not fully explain his actions.
Of course the case was never about whether you should go to jail for lying about a $77 fine.
It was about the extreme lengths that Einfeld went to in covering up his conduct. It was conduct that was aggravated by his career as a successful lawyer and judge. He had in fact sentenced others for similar offences when he sat on the bench.
Einfeld had received many accolades including Australia Day Honours and was
regarded as a ‘Living Treasure’ given his work in the area of human rights both domestically and internationally. His fall was from very lofty heights.
But back to his imprisonment. Einfeld now has the inglorious honour of being the first judge in Australia to be jailed for criminal misconduct.
The purpose of this article is not excorciate or ridicule Einfeld. Far from it. The media has done that already. His reputation lays in tatters and we can expect further reporting as more mud is digged up and thrown. Einfeld will be ridiculed throughout his time in prison and the cameras will still be rolling the day he is released.
But I do want to use this sombre tale as a sober reminder for us all.
As believers we are told to make wise and un-hypocritical judgments in this life. Like David we can fall into the most heinous sins-but for the grace of God.
While we are secure in Christ we are not safe from falling.
Einfeld will not be the last judge to break the law. Though he may be the last one to get caught and sent to jail in such a spectacular way for some time to come.
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:12 -13
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Thanks for the well-balanced article, Rob.
Just wanted you to know that I read your article and so you would have another comment to read:)
Great post Rob. Very sobering.
Thank you for your comment on Judge Einfeld which is indeed a warning for all of us. May I add a little personal insight to what you have already written. Why would a man in his position and reputation do such a foolish thing? His answer was that it was just one of those freakish thing. But how could that be true if what he did was a habit pattern rather than an one of thing as pointed out by the ABC interviewer. Personally, I believe that his love of external righteousness was so passionate that he can’t bear even a tiny blemish like a $77 dollar traffic fine. So he must do whatever necessary to defend his reputation. What about perjury? Isn’t that wrong? Well that doesn’t matter because nobody knows and from experience he always got away with it. In fact he nearly got away with it this time too except for the fact that a daily Telegraph reporter just happen to notice his case and decided to do some investigation. You can see why our Lord warned His listeners that if external righteousness is all you have, you don’t belong to His kingdom. Matt 5:20 “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven”
Yes Pastor Kwok, that is a reasonable inference you have drawn from the ABC interview that was screened after my post.
Answering the ‘why’ of the conduct probably has a number of facets. The pride of life is something that can be stronger even than other temptations.
There have been further articles in the SMH even today that shed further light on the possible motivations of Einfeld.
Let us glean what we can and take these things to heart.