Too Short for Prison

[silan]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052500438.html

For people who don't like to click on links, basically it's an article about how a man who was recently convicted for sexually assaulting a child was given 10 years probation instead of prison because the judge felt that the man was too short to survive in a prison environment.

Discuss.

Of how much importance is the welfare of a man who assaulted a kid? Do you think he just made a "mistake" and can be rehabilitated, so giving him probation instead of prison is okay?

Personally, I think it's BS, but I'll hold off on my rant until I get a few opinions.

[Erigion]

Poor child molester. Too short to stop himself from getting turned into a girlfriend in prison. I feel so much pity for him.

[Griveton]

To the can with him.

What was it? don't do the crime unless you're willing to do the time, or something like that?

For any criminal, I really do not have sympathy whatsoever. He's gonna suffer in jail? he might die in jail? oh, poor, poor monster. Frankly, he did commit a heinous crime. I belive that the criminal's welfare shouldn't be too high on the importance scale. Giving him only probation? why not dump him on a school? The only lesson learnt by this criminal will be "you're a wimp and a loser, so it's ok if you harm others".

When he reincides, what will happen? Will he get another 10 years? What if he fails the terms of his probation? On the line of thought of the judge, maybe send him to a small, low-security prison, at most. Whoo boy.

Put him in a prison. Let him experience firsthand what molesting the weak and helpless feels like for the victim. Maybe he'll learn to like it, just as he probably thought the kid would.

[loner]

Excellent. Now I can go shoot that guy at 7/11 that I always wanted to kill. I'm too short for prison too!

[Natsuke Takeda]

"You must be this tall to ride T-Bone."

EWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!

Oh god! MY BRAIN!

[Ritalin]

It's not that big of a deal. There is a difference between sexual offenders and sexual predators, and he isn't a predator so the chances of him going after others, or even commit the same act again, is pretty low in retrospect. We don't even know the circumstances, it could have been a minor lying about their age (god, this happened so much in high school).

5'1 is very short for a man, so I can totally understand the judge's decision. It falls closely to the same reason under the age of 16 you can't go to a prison. Not just because of age, but because of size. Besides, this guy has absolutely no privacy at all for 10 years. At least in prison you have a cell with walls and no electronic devices on you, only the passing guards.

[f1rst children]

Child molesters don't do well in prison, no matter how tall they are. Among inmates they and child-murderers are the most hated by their fellow prisoners, below even ex-cops. As a result, they are often segregated from the general population, or put into "protective custody."

So using height as an excuse to let this guy off with no prison time is ridiculous. If he were put into the general population, his height would have no bearing on his ability to survive. If he were put into protective custody, which is more likely, then he would not be in danger. In neither case does his height have the slightest effect on his survivability.

The judge is wrong, and the convict should go to prison.

[silan]

It's not that big of a deal. There is a difference between sexual offenders and sexual predators, and he isn't a predator so the chances of him going after others, or even commit the same act again, is pretty low in retrospect. We don't even know the circumstances, it could have been a minor lying about their age (god, this happened so much in high school).

5'1 is very short for a man, so I can totally understand the judge's decision. It falls closely to the same reason under the age of 16 you can't go to a prison. Not just because of age, but because of size. Besides, this guy has absolutely no privacy at all for 10 years. At least in prison you have a cell with walls and no electronic devices on you, only the passing guards.
I disagree. I think it is a big deal when we start making concessions and bending the law like that. Why exactly is it more dangerous for this man to be in prison? Yes, he's short, but short does not equal "unable to take care of himself." He committed a crime, and he should be punished as all other criminals are punished. 10 years of probation mean that he's got 10 years of no privacy? Yeah right! He'll be electronically monitored for a few years, and then what? Exactly how much privacy do you have if you can break your probation and disappear like a number of criminals do? Probation officers can't keep a 24/7 watch on criminals. Ordering him to keep away from people under the age of 18? How will that be enforced?!

Face it, probation is a slap on the wrist compared to what he deserves! This judge's ruling is an absolutely absurd decision in my opinion. As f1rst children said, child molesters are hated in prison the most by the other prisoners. I'd say that's what they deserve, though. And it's random and insane to decide on a person's suitability for prison based on their height. If they're tall enough to commit the crime, they're tall enough to deal with the consequences!

As you said, the circumstances aren't described here, so we have no idea of whether or not that man will be a repeat offender... but child molesters don't change that easily. They don't assault a kid, and then turn around the next day and decide to leave them alone. (I assume that if he'd been sleeping with a girl who lied about her age, he would have been charged with underage sexual activity or sleeping with a minor instead of sexually assaulting a child, but then I don't know the intricacies of the law in this case.)

Rant, rant, rant.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

The judge is wrong. Pure an simple. This isn't even an extreme case of shortness. Such a notion shouldn't even be considered unless there is a vital disability.

I'd say some remarks about America's legal system, but we're also having a case of lunacy here in the UK. Accidentally, 100's of foreign convicted sex-offenders and murderers were put back onto the streets instead of being deported.

This is "head-hits-desk" stupidity.

[Griveton]

It's not that big of a deal. There is a difference between sexual offenders and sexual predators, and he isn't a predator so the chances of him going after others, or even commit the same act again, is pretty low in retrospect. We don't even know the circumstances, it could have been a minor lying about their age (god, this happened so much in high school).

It's most probably a child, as in, at most 10. When you have sex or otherwise do sexual things with a minor of, say, 15-16, usually you're charged with Statutory Rape, and few (if anyone, with the exception of moral panickers) would call the minor a child. In any case, the crime is sexual assault, which is pretty serious even if you do to an adult. Sexual assault can encompass molestation, rape, abuse or all of them. The age of the victim only serves to aggravate (in this case, greatly) the crime.

5'1 is very short for a man, so I can totally understand the judge's decision. It falls closely to the same reason under the age of 16 you can't go to a prison. Not just because of age, but because of size.

Actually, I believe the idea of a juvenile court is that kids are not yet fully matured and thus not yet fully capable of understanding the implications of their acts, so a severe punishment might not only be ineffective, but especially cruel. Youth sentences usually involve more counseling and "sending to the right path" along with a lighter punishment, in order to give them a chance to rehabilitate.

It's the same principle on which most youth-specific laws base themselves: Age of consent, voting rights, rights to sign contracts and other legal documents, etc.

Besides, this guy has absolutely no privacy at all for 10 years. At least in prison you have a cell with walls and no electronic devices on you, only the passing guards.

And an overbearing, huge, muscular dude who likes to be called either "Bubba" or "Marcy".

Frankly, on prison there is no such thing as privacy. You eat, sleep, bathe and have your bodily functions in the company of others, or at least in sight of others. Saying that he has no privacy because he has a GPS system in his ankle and has to pay a visit to an officer a couple times a week is an exaggeration. Probation is a slap in the wrist. Hell, with the exception of being limited from leaving the county to my leisure, I wouldn't notice much of a difference on my life if I were on probation (unless they enforce a curfew, but that would basically mean I'd volunteer my house for any party my friends wish to have).

[Barrelhaven]

How about they just forget sending him to prison altogether and just fry his ass on the electric chair instead? It'd be cheaper for tax payers as well.

[Ninja Realist]

How about they just forget sending him to prison altogether and just fry his ass on the electric chair instead? It'd be cheaper for tax payers as well.

Due to the legal expenses assosciated with extended court battles, the actual net cost of killing someone is often more than the cost of imprisoning them for the rest of their natural lives.

[Erigion]

A link with a bit more info, including some on the victim: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3899484.html

[Scoot]

This made me laugh:

supporters of short people

Though, in all honestly this is by no means a laughing matter. I think this about says it all:

"If shortness is an excuse and protection from going to prison, short people ought to rob banks and do everything else they would wind up going to prison for," Chambers said. "We're talking here about a crime committed against a child, and shortness is not a defense."

I'm disgusted.

[JaQuais J.]

Lol. A lot of stupid stuff happens here in Nebraska. There was the lady down the street that got stabbed three times on three different occasions over the weekend, then there was the guy that escape prison with a purple piece of soap that he carved to resemble a gun http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h38/qwez/gun.jpg yeah….., then there was the school segregation thing. Then there was the transvestite black guy that robbed a mother and daughter then beat up the mother then drove off in there car into a tree, then died. I can keep going on, these are just recent things that happened, like with in the past month. I know crazy stuff happens everywhere, but Nebraska? There’s not even that many people here.

[silan]

A link with a bit more info, including some on the victim: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3899484.html
That article just makes me more disgusted and outraged.

"Supporters of short people" applaud the ruling? Give me a break! Height or lack of height does not give you a free ride through life! It does not mean you can do whatever the hell you want and still get off lightly! We're supposed to be worried about the welfare of someone who didn't care about the welfare of a poor kid?! Why the f*&^ should we? The "challenges" of being short are no excuse to assault a kid!

Bloody hell, I don't understand our society anymore. I don't understand people, and I don't understand our legal system. And I will never understand how anyone could applaud an action like that that just undermines the whole basis of law and justice.

I feel physically ill right now from this.

This is just sick.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

Lol. A lot of stupid stuff happens here in Nebraska. There was the lady down the street that got stabbed three times on three different occasions over the weekend, then there was the guy that escape prison with a purple piece of soap that he carved to resemble a gun http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h38/qwez/gun.jpg yeah….., then there was the school segregation thing. Then there was the transvestite black guy that robbed a mother and daughter then beat up the mother then drove off in there car into a tree, then died. I can keep going on, these are just recent things that happened, like with in the past month. I know crazy stuff happens everywhere, but Nebraska? There’s not even that many people here.
Its probably because Windows 1.0 is avaiable everywhere "except in Nebraska":
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kvbWLfr-Z4s&search=steve%20ballmer