Categorical Aperitif

People charged with EXTRAORDINARY crimes—such as, oh, running the biggest Ponzi scheme in history—have to endure the horrors of...house arrest in luxurious Manhattan apartments:

A federal magistrate on Monday refused a government request that Bernard L. Madoff be jailed until he can be tried on charges of operating a $50 billion global Ponzi scheme, saying that the government had not proved that he was a flight risk or a security risk.

The ruling, by United States Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis, allows Mr. Madoff to remain in his Manhattan apartment, wearing an electronic monitor device and watched around the clock by a security team paid for by his wife.

Dante will have to add another circle to Hell to encompass the torments endured by poor Mr. Madoff, I tell you.