Crime and punishment
by Lori Barrett | April 14, 2008 at 8:12 am
Posted in baltimore crime, baltimore news
The justice system bewilders again.
The light-rail rapist who we talked about earlier today, with a 30-year history of sexual offenses, is facing a sentence of 20 years maximum. Murderers routinely spend a handful of years in prison. Apparently a more heinous crime than these infractions? Identity theft.
A woman is facing a life sentence after stealing a wallet. She used the credit cards to buy jewelry and the owner’s identity to obtain narcotics. A lot of narcotics, actually: she managed to squeeze OxyContin and Percocet prescriptions out of 85 hospitals and physicians in about 2 months.
Even though these are federal charges and not Brenda’s only brush with the law, one has to question whether a life sentence is justified. In a case like this, wouldn’t restitution and probation (and for Brenda, some drug rehab) be sufficient? A life sentence isn’t necessarily the best use of resources for nonviolent offenders. Does the punishment fit the crime?
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April 14th, 2008 at 5:42 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
Just out of curiosity, did you actually read the article to which you are referring? Because it doesn't say she received a life's sentence, just that she should.
And is it really wrong to assign more time to multiple crimes, than just one? For instance, supposing each time she purchased drugs with a false identity there was one crime. And each time she transported drugs across state lines there was a crime. And how about when she lied to doctors over and over again to feed her addiction. We're talking about potentially 30+ federal crimes here.
In addition to that, who is to say that she wont simply get 5 years, community service, financial restitution and time in rehab.
Most white collar crime doesn't get enough time. Look at the enron scandal for instance. White collar crime is not victimless, in fact you are talking about ruining the lives of thousands, not just a few. If you ask me, these people should get life, that's what they take away.