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There are limits to the severity of justice dispensed by mere mortals. This is unfortunate, because many of the deeds perpetrated by our fellow man are so incomprehensibly vile that even the ultimate sanction, the death penalty, seems inadequate. Yet there is solace in knowing that, in the end, the two-legged wolf will face justice of a transcendent nature: divine retribution.

In Alsip, Ill., a few miles south of Chicago, four employees of the Burr Oak Cemetery are suspected of exhuming, dismembering and disposing of corpses in order to resell burial plots. Carolyn Towns, Maurice Dailey and Keith and Terrence Nicks reportedly dug up remains and scattered them in a field on cemetery property, or reburied them with other bodies.

It never ceases to amaze (and repulse) how eagerly some of our fellow citizens wallow in the depths of depravity for financial gain. To those enslaved by mammon -- the desire for material wealth -- nothing is sacred. Not even the dead. According to The Associated Press, approximately 300 grave sites were disturbed, and the scheme brought in about $300,000 over four years.

That is a paltry sum for the purchase of one's conscience, isn't it? And worse, if divided four ways, each member of the Oak Hill gang collected only $75,000 in blood money. It is possible that a few among us suffer a rare birth defect: no conscience. And in the heathen community, where piety and the soul are unknown, 75 G's is more than adequate to fund a few hundred episodes of desecration.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson does not often echo the mainstream view, but his remarks in regard to events at Burr Oak Cemetery are commendable. For the perpetrators of this crime, Jackson said, there should be "a special place in hell." The only charge against each of the four, thus far, is one count of dismembering a body. Presumably, many more charges are forthcoming.

Events in Alsip are eerily reminiscent of those in Noble, Ga., in 2002. Ray Brent Marsh, who operated the Tri-State Crematory, stacked bodies in sheds and hurled them into the woods rather than performing cremations. Authorities in Noble discovered more than 330 desecrated bodies, many of which had been decaying on the Tri-State grounds for several years. In 2004, as a result of a plea arrangement, Marsh was sentenced to 12 years in prison -- a slap in the face to the profaned souls lingering in Noble, Ga.

Speaking of betrayal, last week in Colchester, N.Y., Rosland Auslander confessed to storing the body of his 98-year-old mother in a freezer so he could continue collecting her Social Security funds. An autopsy of Auslander's mother, Herta, revealed that she died of natural causes. According to prosecutors in the case, Herta Auslander's remains were in the freezer "for at least 18 months." Mr. Auslander, 69, faces a maximum of seven years in prison.

A century ago, British writer George Gissing wrote about his fondness for walking through a country cemetery near his home. With reverence, he inspected the grave sites and monuments: "In the path trodden by the noblest of mankind these have followed; that which of all who live is the utmost thing demanded, these have achieved. I cannot sorrow for them, but the thought of their vanished life moves me to a brotherly tenderness. The dead, amid this leafy silence, seem to whisper encouragement to him whose fate yet lingers: 'As we are, so shalt thou be; and behold our quiet!'"

As we have seen, the quiet of departed souls is sometimes disturbed, depriving them of the most fundamental of human rights: to die with dignity and rest in peace. We learn from remains dated to 60,000 B.C. that mankind has always treated the dead with profound respect. The likes of the Burr Oak gang seem to defy the theory of evolution; Neanderthal man was of superior virtue.

Consider this observation from Sir William Gladstone, former prime minister of Great Britain: "Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals."

If we accept Gladstone's premise, then the manner in which a nation deals with those who desecrate the dead for profit is equally revealing. If, as the Rev. Jackson suggests, there is a special place in hell reserved for the Burr Oak four, we should expedite their transition from this world to the next.

Charles Davenport Jr. (cdavenportjr@hotmail.com) is a freelance columnist who appears alternate Sundays.