too short for prison!

[mrhnau]

I just read this and could not believe it. How on earth could this be construed as justice?

A judge's decision to sentence a 5-foot-1 man to probation instead of prison for sexually assaulting a child has angered crime victim advocates who say the punishment sends the wrong message.

Thompson, 50, had sexual contact over a couple of months last year with a 12-year-old girl, said Sidney Police Chief Larry Cox. He was sentenced on two felony sexual assault charges

 

[Makalakumu]

I just read this and could not believe it. How on earth could this be construed as justice?

Yeah, that's BS. I can't beleive that a judge would take something like that into account when sentancing for a crime like this. Their is a weird irony to all of this that is pretty disturbing. This man sexually assaults a child and is protected (I'm assuming) because his height would make him a target for the same in prison.

 

[Xue Sheng]

This is BS.

So I am guessing if your 7 foot tall and get a parking ticket in Lincoln Nebraska you get life.

Throw the guy off the bench.

 

[tshadowchaser]

so my question is is there a prison for midgets or those under 5 foot or do these people get away with just probation all the time
No disrepect to those mentioned above intended

 

[Carol]

Wow. I'm 5' 1" - what can I get away with?

Just kidding...

 

[terryl965]

The judge needs to be re-avaluated and reaasigned to prison himself.
Terry

 

[michaeledward]

I wonder why the judge does not feel the prison is a safe environment. Does that say anything about the criminal justice system in the country?

 

[Blotan Hunka]

Yeah, its full of violent scumbags.

 

[shesulsa]

so my question is is there a prison for midgets or those under 5 foot

Sure there is - juvey/youth authority. However, I don't think what happened to Dahmer in prison would happen to this guy in the youth authority.

I wonder why the judge does not feel the prison is a safe environment. Does that say anything about the criminal justice system in the country?

Why is it, also, that we're concerned about sending criminals to dangerous places?

 

[Kacey]

I heard this story this morning on the radio; the DJs' opinions seemed to echo those already stated, and my opinion as well. If this... uh... person... (so to speak) didn't want to risk prison, then he should have left little girls alone. For the judge to use this offender's size as a reason to not imprison him leaves me wondering about the judge.

 

[modarnis]

I wonder why the judge does not feel the prison is a safe environment. Does that say anything about the criminal justice system in the country?

I think it says far more about the type of criminals in the country than the system itself. Certainly the inner workings of the prison system are outside a judge's scope of knowledge or authority. That is why state's have correction departments to oversee and administer the inmates. They consider things like age, gang affiliation, escape risk, and nature of offense in deciding how to best incarcerate a prisoner.

It also speaks volumes that a population of violent and predatory offenders view child sex offenders so dimly. When people who kill, rape, carjack or whatever think something is reprehensible, you would hope a judge would too. Call me glib, but if you avoid having illegal sexual contact with children, you needn't worry about being treated poorly in prison, regardless of your size

 

[michaeledward]

Why is it, also, that we're concerned about sending criminals to dangerous places?

Because the State is operating that prison system in our names. If it is a dangerous place, do you want your tax dollars supporting it?

Or do we just want to escalate every criminal offense to a capital crime, and execute people upon conviction? You know, the way they do in Saudia Arabia, or Afghanistan under the Taliban.

 

[Don Roley]

Well, if we want to make prisons safer for child molestors, we are going to have to try to attract a better class of criminals.....

Either that or solitary confinement for their entire sentence.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Because the State is operating that prison system in our names. If it is a dangerous place, do you want your tax dollars supporting it?

Or do we just want to escalate every criminal offense to a capital crime, and execute people upon conviction? You know, the way they do in Saudia Arabia, or Afghanistan under the Taliban.

That's quite an all or nothing leap.

And no they don't execute everyone for every crime in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.

Prisons are dangerous because dangerous people are put in them to keep them away from the rest of society, which they have or would haved harm. What was the saying, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time"

What would you solution be, I am very curious to hear it?

 

[modarnis]

That's quite an all or nothing leap.

And no they don't execute everyone for every crime in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.

Prisons are dangerous because dangerous people are put in them to keep them away from the rest of society, which they have or would haved harm. What was the saying, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time"

What would you solution be, I am very curious to hear it?

Nor does every criminal conviciton in the US result in a prison sentence.

 

[bydand]

Maybe because I have kids myself, but using his height to give him probation for this act should be seen as ludicrus by anyone with brains. As for prisons being a violent place, well HELLO!!!!!!!! it's prison, not a country club. If you want peace and contentment, join a spa; if you want to molest children, get ready to face a violent and dangerous place. Personally I would order implants and a long flowing blond wig for him before sending him away. Guess that makes me an evil person also, but hey, mess with a kid like that and NO punishment is to harsh. Send a strong message and maybe someone who is borderline will think twice about following throught with their "desires." Slap them on the wrist with restrictions for 4 months and then probation and ....

 

[michaeledward]

If the State is going to deprive a convicted person of liberty, does not the State have an obligation to the conditions in which that person is held during his detainment?

The answer to that question is Yes.

Even if one were to view the prison system in this country strictly as a place of punishment, and not rehabilitation, there are ethical obligations demanded of the society that administers that punishment. Some may just want the convicted person to go 'Away', and the key destroyed. But even this does not absolve the imprisoners from their ethical custodianship.

If the environment of detention is beyond the measure of the sentence, we as society are meeting out un-just, justice. If the convicted person sentenced to 10 years in prison, but the true sentence is death at the hands of fellow convicts, we have failed in administration of our Justice system.

Although solutions to this problem are difficult to come by, there are some ideas that could be implemented. Release all non-violent detainees. Bring down prison populations. Decriminalize drugs. Getting a bit more drastic, we might consider segregating inmates by race.

I offer no apologies for the actions of this man. That a judge feels our criminal justice system is not safe for the convicted, when there are more than 2,000,000 Americans in jail, speaks, unfortunately, to a much larger problem than the sexual abuse of the minor child.

 

[Don Roley]

Although solutions to this problem are difficult to come by, there are some ideas that could be implemented. Release all non-violent detainees. Bring down prison populations. Decriminalize drugs. Getting a bit more drastic, we might consider segregating inmates by race.

Everything aside from segregation is just silly IMO.

Every so often there is a call to decrease prison populations by only detaining those that commit violent criminals.

Well, do you want this guy to walk free? It is technically sexual assault- but the circumstances seem to point to no actual violence being used. It was over a couple of months.

And I can tell you that there are things that are not violent, but are worse than beating someone up. There are people out there that have commited suicide because they were taken in by con men. There are con men who specialize in targeting the elderly. There are people who will come into your house and take everything you have.

If we don't put these folks behind bars, what kind of deterent do we have to stop them?

The legalization of drugs is another debate. But you might want to look into how many people are in prison on drug charges but were originally charged with something much more vile. Plea barganing kind of skews the numbers a bit.

And if we do not put people in prison for anything other than violent crimes and legalize all drugs, then what are we going to do with all the break- ins commited by people hooked on crack? Hit them with fines when they don't have any money?

You might want to put the guys in cells large enough for them to lay down on a mat, with water taps and a window to put food through and then leave them there for their entire sentence. As long as you have prisoners interacting with other prisoners, there will be race wars, rapes and killing of child molestors behind prison. If we care about the safety of the criminals, then this is what we should do. But some would say that is inhumane punishment. :idunno:

 

[Makalakumu]

I see the point you are trying to make, Mike, but I gotta wonder...is any prison anywhere in the world pleasent? Maybe this is a place where the ideal and reality just do not mix well. A little guy who rapes children surrounded in an environment filled with other predators is never going to fare well.

 

[BrandiJo]

I see the point you are trying to make, Mike, but I gotta wonder...is any prison anywhere in the world pleasent? Maybe this is a place where the ideal and reality just do not mix well. A little guy who rapes children surrounded in an environment filled with other predators is never going to fare well.

well maybe it will make him think how a child would feel with an adult aproaching him with simler intentions in mind?

I think getting out of jail time is totaly wrong, if you cant do the time dont do the crime.