How little the lives of children matter in the legal system
In Ohio, we have incredibly oppressive, counter-productive drug sentencing laws. We have so many people in prison for doing dumb things with drugs, hundreds of books could and probably have been written. That's not my topic. This is about maimed, injured and murdered children. Here are two stories in today's Columbus Dispatch.1) MOTHER OF BATTERED BABY GET PROBATION: The child had 27 bone fractures and cigarette burns on it. The father went to jail for 4 years; the mother gets probation and the child back. The injuries happened in May 2007; just getting to court. Link.
2) MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN 2001 DEATH OF TEEN IN BATHTUB: A man drowned and dismembered a 15 year old boy, and got the MAXIMUM sentence, 7.5 years. It was called a "domestic" dispute, because the boy was somehow related to the sister of the ex-wife. Link
But they'll put druggies in jail to rot forever.
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4 comments:
Flight said...
I often think about how justice seems to be unjust . And its a shame that this isn't a new thought , just look at these ancient quotes .
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.
--Plato
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office
--Aesop (~550 BC)
According to DOJ in 2005 we had about 7.1 million people in prison or under supervision, and about 1/2 had some kind of drug abuse problem. It doesn't look like the stiff penalties are doing much.
It seems that this post was about the unfairness of sentences of drug versus child crime offenders.
However, if you're interested, there is a really great (and amusing) interview between Clifford Thornton Jr, and a cartoon cat reminiscent of "Hello Kitty." It's about the War on Drugs.
http://www.pinkyshow.org/archives/episodes/081016_warondrugs/
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