To refresh your memory: remember about the man that had 275 or some such number of years in prison? I mentioned it to Stephen {Maria's big brother}and added that I thought it would be so much more sensible to say “life sentence.” And do you know what he said?
“Technically, a “life” sentence is 20 years.” 20 years is for life? So we get a murderer with a life sentence, convicted at age say 34, and at 55 he is out on the streets again. I do not claim to be good at solutions but it sounds scary to me.
Then, the bit about 275 years. Stephen says if he behaves himself, does community work, etc, he can get years taken off so it could go down a lot.
But will wonders never cease?
This confirms my notion that our Criminal Justice organizing needs to be reorganized. To illustrate, one guy got released from prison because his papers were mixed around, and now they are out having a manhunt looking for him. I suppose that could be a fluke but the idea!
Oh, and this reminds me…in last Sunday’s “How He/She Does It” column, they featured a bounty hunter. That man had nothing interesting to say. It could be condensed to: I left the police force because of employer conflicts. I go and break into houses because I don’t need a permit. It is dangerous but exciting because it is unpredictable.” The questions were very “I don’t know what to ask you and you don’t know how to answer.”
Bleh! Still, it does not compare to the time they interviewed a bum. “How he Does It.” I’ll tell you how he does it! He does it because he is a drunk who can’t hold a job at a simple thing like McDonalds, so he raids trash cans, resells the junk, and uses the money to buy potato chips, pop, Twinkies, Wonderbread, and pay taxes for his house, which is doubtlessly in ill repair and an eyesore. What can we learn from a bum? What is inspiring about a bum? Moral: “Be a hobo and get your picture in the paper because you raid garbage cans. It’s a cool job and you don’t need a education, so go ahead and drop out of highschool. You can get drunk whenever you feel like it. Bums contribute to society too, you know.” It is SO INCREDIBLY POINTLESS. The only thing we can learn from it is compassion for a man with a totally messed up life who isn’t contributing anything, and is instead getting money for being financially dependent even though nothing is keeping him from getting a job beside his lack of self control."
Notice the reference to twinkies... Hmmmm...