Tuesday, April 15

Never Push Your Luck IV

Don't you hate it when the bad guy gets away? Me too. Which is why I love stories when justice finally catches up to them. Take this criminal who has been an abuser of the criminal justice system many times over:
NEW YORK (AP) ― About two weeks after he was released from prison, Freddie Johnson boarded a crowded subway train in Manhattan and illegally rubbed up against a woman, authorities said.

It is a fairly common crime on subways in New York. But this was no common criminal.

Johnson has been arrested a staggering 53 times -- the majority for groping women on the subway, police and prosecutors said. - WCBSTV
I had always figured that if I ever was in a position to send a guilty person away, that I would try to get them behind bars for a long as possible. The reasoning being that for whatever amount of time a criminal gets, that they will be eager to commit a new crime, figuring that they were owed it, or go after those who helped put them in jail, such as the jurors, or go after the victim, again. So, why not delay that possibility for as long as possible? I wonder if that is what happened here. This guy was in jail for four years and might have figured that he was owed this for spending all that time locked up.

However, this time he might have really underestimated what it would cost him.
In his latest arrest, Johnson was being followed by plainclothes officers who recognized him from police photos, authorities said. He was charged with persistent sexual abuse, and if convicted this time, he could be sent away for life. - WCBSTV
It took 53 arrests for this guy to finally reach a point where he faces life in jail. Something is seriously wrong with that. Relatives of criminals complain about three-strikes laws. My comment has always been, 'how many strikes do you want to give?' This guy appears to have gotten fifty-three strikes. Those 'extra' strikes only resulted in a larger trail of victims. Then there is the cost to arrest and process this guy so many times. You always hear about the cost of jailing a criminal. Well what about the cost of constantly arresting and trying these guys?

We all have responsibilities as part of a 'modern society'. There is no room in a 'modern society' for people like this. Give them all the assist to help steer them away from repeating offenses, but at some point they just need to be removed for the good of the society. Both by their removal and as an example to others of what can happen to them for being a criminal.

Serial Subway Groper Arrested Once Again - WCBSTV

Previous:
Never Push Your Luck III - 5 April 08
Never Push Your Luck II - 28 Feb 08
Never Push Your Luck - 31 Oct 07
55,322 Illegal Alien Criminals = 459,614 Arrests - 21 May 06
Congress Should do Nothing About Illegal Aliens - 7 June 07
Mexico and the US Governments are the Immigration Problem - 25 May 07
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1 comment:

Benjamin said...

I think it's worth being hesitant about the 'three strikes' rules. Some pretty silly things are felonies in some of those jurisdictions, but there are surely folks locked away for no socially constructive purpose, just the legal technicality of it.

Predatory sex offenders? Toss the book at 'em.