Good morning, all.

That sound you heard a few days ago was Jim Ivey hitting his knees in thanks he never met Judge Robert P. Mallis.

Mallis, a visiting judge from DeKalb County, had the pleasure of sentencing former Piedmont Judicial Circuit district attorney and current convicted felon Tim Madison last week for his role in stealing public funds. “You have certainly given this community a great deal, but you owe this community a great deal. You are held to a higher standard because of your position as district attorney, and you broke that trust,” Mallis told Madison at his hearing. Amen.

Good morning, all.

Wilford Bradford Sims has gotta be kicking himself for not boasting a better Rolodex.

As you may remember, Sims was sentenced last week to 20 days plus probation and community service for animal cruelty as a result of abandoning cats at his north Clarke County home. If you read the story, you were probably struck by the raw meanness, but not necessarily surprised as this type of thing seems to happen far too often.

Sims is a sick, sad dude who is going to serve an appropriate amount of time for his crime. That’s how the system needs to work. The prosecution asked for 60 days; the defense asked for none. Judge Ethelyn Simpson bought the prosecution argument that the severity of the abuse demanded time behind bars and settled on the 20 days. Good for Simpson.

Good morning, all.

Looks like I’m not alone. Believe me, nothing short of changing our comics page generates this many notes from readers. So if you want to say Jim Ivey has finally eclipsed the standing of Snuffy Smith in this community, well, then I might have trouble arguing with you.

On Sunday, I discussed the joke of a sentence handed down to Jim Ivey, convicted felon, former GOP wunderkind and all-around sleazebag. To be honest, I thought I might stand alone on this one. Ivey, still popular in many circles despite his stealing ways, has friends in relatively high places in this community. In fact, it is directly to those friends I tied his questionably lenient sentence. In a world a frustrations, I wondered if this community could summon up enough outrage for one more injustice.

Well, if you think folks aren’t mad about this Ivey sentence, then you’re fooling yourself.

Good morning, all.

Even if he penned it himself, I’m not certain Jim Ivey imagined a better deal.

After stealing more than $36,000 from the Oconee County Veterans Memorial Foundation, a group he established to build a monument to the county’s fallen soldiers, Ivey faced serious jail time. But somehow the convicted felon walked out of court last week with a sentence of only 120 days confinement and 20 years probation. On top of that, Ivey’s jail time will be suspended if a minimum-security probation detention center accepts him. Absolutely amazing.

Ivey, who could have, perhaps should have seen four years behind bars, has got to feel like he’s living the dream. But know he didn’t do it alone.