If they really want to punish this guy just lock him up for a few years and feed him nothing but Peeps®. That’ll teach him.
I don’t know about this case, but locking somebody up for 20 years for stealing $31 in candy seems excessive. Surely there is more to this case. Has anybody talked to the Prosecutor. What is his reasoning.
Bart Simpson is pissed too.
Btw, did anyone see that report on how prisoners in Germany are treated in comparison to the US on 60 Minutes last night? Fascinating. That would never fly here. Too many guns in our culture to begin with. But it was enlightening as to how messed up our own prisons have become, and the total lack of rehabilitation, which isn’t even considered regarding our system of incarceration.
Heck in Texass he’d be executed, no foolin’!
the three strikes laws that states have passed have resulted in these kinds of sentences for people with relatively minor and nonviolent offenses. iirc california reformed its version after similar cases.
The Prosecutors reasoning is upping their resume…
The linked article has good info. Like the judge at the arraignment saying:
“Isn’t this a little over the top?” Zibilich wondered aloud over the threat of a “multiple bill,” an approach that leaves little discretion to a judge.
“It’s not even funny,” the judge said. “Twenty years to life for a Snickers bar, or two or three or four.”
I seriously doubt he is getting 20 years, that’s only the max sentence, especially if this judge handles the sentencing. The positive that might come out of this is a rewriting of some of these laws to make them more applicable to serious and violent crime, not shop lifting.
This guy clearly needs mental health treatment, not a long jail sentence. His last 4 year sentence was for stealing socks and trousers from a Dollar General. As noted by the attorney, he should be charged with a state misdemeanor under a different statute. None of his thefts were over $500.
This sounds ridiculous even if his sentence is based on his prior thefts. Beyond ridiculous
let me guess, he’s black?
I agree. Locking folks up without even trying to rehabilitate is just ridiculous. When an inmate is released, he is released with $40 in his pocket and no where to go most times and I read they owe thousands of dollars for the costs they incur while imprisoned. How fucked up is that
Nobody better lay a finger indeed…
And I’m sorry, but who is the fucking prosecutor whose conscience (or lack thereof) allows him to sleep at night doing something like this? I swear some of these DA fucks are too politically ambitious to be fit for their jobs.
If he is, he has the single most Jewish name I may have ever seen on a black man. Jacobia Grimes? And yet, LO’ AND BEHOLD…
http://cdn.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/03092420/grimes.jpg
In case you were wondering why LA does this to people…it’s because imprisoning the brown makes a lotta green…
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/05/louisiana_is_the_worlds_prison.html
@sniffit With a lotta help from dirty judges.
Yep, and apparently the sheriffs because of the way the system is set up down there. The sheriffs are basically incentivized to keep the beds full and the accommodations cheap so that they can divert more money to things like military gear and new squad cars.
The article doesn’t say, but I assume this is a white upper class person, with a quirk? Has to be. Everyone knows that Louisiana sentences everyone equally.
Guns aren’t the reason why this won’t fly in the US. We treat people who commit crime in a revenge minded approach. The more revenge the more we like it. Then, of course, each black person left in prison for years and years can’t vote for a Democrat.
This story comes right out of a Dickens novel. The judge is right, this is over the top. I am surprised the judge hasn’t called the lawyers into his office for a private talk.
As the article states, it’s due to the fact that he has multiple prior convictions. While it certainly sounds Draconian to lock someone up for life for $31 worth of theft, if it’s his fifth offense, you gotta think rehabilitation doesn’t seem to be working…
Dude, just stop stealing stuff…
All of his charges have been for similar petty thefts. Maybe he steals because he doesn’t know how else to get trousers or food? No, this guy needs help, probably mental health help. Locking him up for 20 years is going to cost a lot more than a few Snickers bars.
In most states prosecutors have a lot of discretion in matters like this. Sometimes a prosecutor has to seek justice.