Justice

This item just in on the ticker under a Fairbanks, Alaska, dateline: “Arnold Forbush today became the first person convicted under this city’s harsh new anti-yo-yo statute. Forbush, 64, was apprehended last September 30 at 3:20 p.m., his string at full draw, twenty minutes past the municipal curfew. Hopwood Farnsworth, spokesman for Fairbanks’ Yo-Yo Patrol, commented, ‘We intend to press for a jail term. This guy Forbush acts as if nothing much happened.’ ”

No, just kidding. Fairbanks is fine. But here in Washington, D.C., we’re getting a bit jumpy, jurisprudentially speaking. The powers that be—and from the convicted man’s point of view, they look mighty powerful—are contemplating a nice, long lesson-teaching jail term for Franklyn C. (Lyn) Nofziger. You remember him. He is the former White House aide who was accused of calling or writing three old friends in 1982, in each case asking for a favor for a business client. These favors did not involve wine, women, controlled substances, or Hawk missiles, but according to the Feds they were improperly sought. There is a law, it seems, that forbids people like Nofziger to ask for those favors until some months after they leave government service.

About the Author

Neal B. Freeman

Neal B. Freeman, businessman and journalist, was a director of National Review Inc. for 38 years.

Featured Tags

This item just in on the ticker under a Fairbanks, Alaska, dateline: “Arnold Forbush today became the first person convicted under this city’s harsh new anti-yo-yo statute. Forbush, 64, was apprehended last September 30 at 3:20 p.m., his string at full draw, twenty minutes past the municipal curfew. Hopwood Farnsworth, spokesman for Fairbanks’ Yo-Yo Patrol, commented, ‘We intend to press for a jail term. This guy Forbush acts as if nothing much happened.’ ”

No, just kidding. Fairbanks is fine. But here in Washington, D.C., we’re getting a bit jumpy, jurisprudentially speaking. The powers that be—and from the convicted man’s point of view, they look mighty powerful—are contemplating a nice, long lesson-teaching jail term for Franklyn C. (Lyn) Nofziger. You remember him. He is the former White House aide who was accused of calling or writing three old friends in 1982, in each case asking for a favor for a business client. These favors did not involve wine, women, controlled substances, or Hawk missiles, but according to the Feds they were improperly sought. There is a law, it seems, that forbids people like Nofziger to ask for those favors until some months after they leave government service.