Italy Makes It Hard For Jailbirds to Stay in Jail
A Mass Pardon Triggers Wave of Bank Heists;
Give Me 'Semi-Liberty'
By GABRIEL KAHN
April 8, 2008; Page A1
ROME -- Less than two years ago, Italy's prison system faced a crisis: Built to hold 43,000 inmates, it was straining to contain more than 60,000. So the government crafted an emergency plan. It swung open the prison doors and let more than a third of the inmates go free.
Within months, bank robberies jumped by 20%. Kidnappings and fraud also rose, as did computer crime, arson and purse-snatchings. The prison population, however, fell so much that for awhile Italy had more prison guards than prisoners to guard.
In Italy, it sometimes seems that no bad deed goes unpardoned.
The nation's legal system has roots in the unforgiving codes of the Roman Empire, well known for crucifixions and feeding people to the lions. But since then it has evolved to become infused with Roman Catholic notions of forgiveness, along with a healthy dose of bureaucracy.
The death penalty is considered abhorrent, and life sentences are rare. Defendants have the right to two appeals, and even traffic tickets can be appealed to the nation's highest court. Italy's courts are so clogged that the statute of limitations on most felonies expires before a final verdict can be reached.
Salvatore Ferranti, whom prosecutors accuse of being a member of a Mafia crime family in Palermo, as he is released from jail because of his size.
Claudio Urciuoli, a criminal defense lawyer in Rome, says he often reassures his clients: "Don't worry, you'll never go to prison."
With the justice system at a standstill, prosecution carries little stigma. Consider Italy's two-time prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. He has been named as the target in more than a dozen criminal probes, and has been sent to trial at least a half-dozen times on charges ranging from tax evasion to bribing judges. Legal headaches like these might have stymied a political career elsewhere. But Mr. Berlusconi is leading in the polls and stands a good chance of being re-elected as Italy's prime minister this month.
Mr. Berlusconi, who is also one of Italy's richest men, was convicted in two of the cases brought against him, but the charges were all eventually overturned on appeal or tossed out because the statute of limitations had expired. Other cases are still pending in the courts. Mr. Berlusconi maintains his innocence and has long said he is a victim of politically motivated prosecutors.
The system has been a boon for other politicians here as well. More than 20 of the 945 elected members of Parliament have been convicted of crimes including associating with organized crime and committing acts of terrorism. Former Sicily governor Salvatore Cuffaro, for example, was recently convicted of aiding and abetting a known Mafioso. Mr. Cuffaro, whose case is on appeal, is expected to be elected to the Senate this month. A spokesman for Mr. Cuffaro declined to comment.
Prison Infrastructure
The sorry state of Italy's prison infrastructure plays a role, too. Prosecutors have charged Salvatore Ferranti for being a henchman of one of Sicily's fiercest crime families. But last month he was released from the slammer and given house arrest. The reason: He was too fat. The prison system didn't have beds big enough to accommodate his 462-pound frame.
"The fact of the matter is that obesity is not compatible with prison," says Lino Buscemi, secretary of the Sicily region's Department of Prisoners' Rights in Palermo.
Mr. Ferranti's lawyer declined to comment.
Italy's 2006 prisoner pardon -- which so far has allowed 27,000 inmates to go free -- worked something like a discount coupon. It lopped three years off every prison sentence, except ones for terrorism, Mafia-related crimes and a few others. A previous law already allowed anyone serving less than three years to perform community service instead of going to jail. So now, just about anyone sentenced to six years in jail doesn't have to serve a day.
Some U.S. states have tried to combat soaring jail costs by paroling some less-dangerous inmates or allowing for house arrest. Still, in Italy, even for hardened criminals, hard time is rare.
Semi-Liberty Program
Cristoforo Piancone was one of the most fearsome members of the Red Brigades terrorist group which carried out numerous assassinations, kidnappings and robberies during the 1970s and '80s. Mr. Piancone was convicted of six murders and two attempted murders, and given the maximum prison sentence, according to police.
But in return for good behavior, he was placed in what is known as a "semi-liberty" program, which lets convicts leave jail during the day. So Mr. Piancone took a day job as a janitor in a school, according to police. Last summer, flanked by an accomplice, he walked into a bank in Siena wearing a fisherman's hat and sunglasses and, armed with a pistol, held it up for €170,000, or about $267,000, according to police. He is back in prison, awaiting trial. Neither Mr. Piancone nor a lawyer representing him could be reached for comment.
Prosecutors complain the deck is stacked against them. "Someone who commits bribery, insider trading, tax evasion, false bookkeeping, what have you, is pretty much guaranteed to go free," says Bruno Tinti, a prosecutor in Turin who wrote a book about Italy's justice system called "Toghe Rotte" or "Broken Robes." One chapter purports to outline a satirical step-by-step guide to killing your wife and mostly avoiding jail time.
Here's the logic: Once the deed is done, Mr. Tinti writes, immediately confess and provide the police with the weapon and the corpse. These steps mean that, under Italian law, there is no risk of flight or evidence-tampering, and therefore no need for pretrial custody.
Murder can carry a sentence of more than 20 years, but requesting a speedy trial automatically cuts that by a third. Arguing that your dead wife was cheating can be good for another third off. Eventually, the sentence can be reduced to 10 years -- at which point only four years will actually need to be served. (Recall that most people sentenced to six years or less don't serve the time due to community-service and other provisions.)
"This is the proof that court sentences are fiction," says Mr. Tinti.
Arresting Mr. Riina Prosecutors say the only sure form of punishment at their disposal is to have someone placed in pretrial custody. Once a trial starts, however, courts usually let defendants out. Advocates for defendants' rights argue that prosecutors abuse this power because they often jail people who are later acquitted.
Even when prosecutors win big cases, it's tough to keep people behind bars. In 2002, prosecutors succeeded in arresting Giuseppe Riina, one of the sons of the infamous "boss of bosses" Salvatore "Totò" Riina, who had led the Sicilian Mafia until the early 1990s. A court sentenced the younger Mr. Riina, now 27, to more than 14 years in prison for extortion and for being a Mafia member. Mr. Riina's lawyer declined to comment on the case.
An appeals court ordered a partial retrial for Mr. Riina. Then, in February, another court ordered him released from jail while he awaits the completion of his trial. The day after he was let out, he was photographed bringing pastries to his mother in his hometown of Corleone.
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