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[sullivan]

I have read all of the posters up to this point in the thread and in my opinion NOBODY gets it!!!

We discuss cure instead of prevention!!

We discuss punishment instead of rehabilitation!!!

We discuss throwing good money after bad and expect different results!!

We have taken the authority away from parents and redirected it to the responsibility of government who turn around and charge us as taxpaying citizens for the authority taken from us to raise OUR children.

We have further compounded that problem by" guting the authority" of our teachers and even the police officers for fear of legal reprisal.

It is a vicious and agenda based cycle that can only be remedied by a return of real authority to the parents as the first line defense against the societal ills we try to foolisly stave off like the liitle boy sticking his fingers in the hole of the leaky dike and running out of fingers ($$$$) before he runs out of holes to plug.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!!!

Promote parental involvement and ENCOURAGE and ENFORCE the rights of BOTH  parents to be parents of their children and you may see different and positive results occur that are less costly.


J. Pat Mc Elligott    

[PrincessAmy]

In the course of my job, I am sick of seing the same people OVER AND OVER again, because our criminal justice system does not punish these professional criminals. I could name about 10 people off the top of my head taht I've caught multiple times - it's pathetic

[the nosh]

brooks?

how can you put a pot smoker and someone that steals in the same category? just because they are both against the law?

[lordfly]

Man, this kills me...release just one pot smoker, etc.

Sorry, pot smokers don't even come close to DUIs, burglaries, murders, rapists, etc.

Smoking weed while driving? Well, that's different. Smoking weed while just hanging out? Who's being harmed here? Is the community in danger of turning into Rastafarians or something?

Smoking weed in public should be a slap on the wrist ticket, like 25 bucks. Such as they have in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.

I'm kind of an all-or-nothing kind of guy. If we allow alcohol and tobacco but not anything else (weed, etc), it's quite hypocritical, especially considering alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than weed ever was.

Allow everything and tax the bejesus out of it, or ban everything and watch the Mob come back to Monroe (rum runners, anyone?)

[the nosh]

yes lordfly...we italians are still waiting for that day to come!!! 

[Chips]

If you do the crime... you do the time!!

What, exactly, is a crime?

Is it something that is merely labeled illegal? Or is it something that causes actual harm to an actual victim?

What passes for law ceased to be based upon right and wrong a long time ago.

What is a crime?

It is a violation of our constitution, codified ordinances or legislation approved by a majority vote of the electorate or of our elected  officials.
If you disagree with a law, you must follow the legal methods to modify or delete it.
Failure to do so, will require the services good attorney!

[PrincessAmy]

I agree with the pot thing - fine the people, get some money going into funding more deputies and a bigger jail, but don't house them there.

As far as burglars, shoplifters - for those of you that think that it's just teenyboppers stealing makeup, wake up. I've been punched, kicked, dragged, thrown and hit. There are some people that are violent. Many drug addicts steal to pay for their addictions. Organized retail thefts make livings off of this. My co worker and I busted a huge interstate theft ring 2 years ago and they only got misdemeanor charges - and are back out again and the FBI is after them now.

I could provide you with some names to look up in OTIS, but I'm not about losing my job. But one is a prisoner who has written letters to the editor while in jail.

[parkersback]

I see nothing wrong with Judge LaBeau's comments.  it appears he stressed that safety of the community is a primary concern and i agree with that.  I see nothing phony about that. 

Also keep in mind that you are reading opinions by several people compiled into one article by a reporter.  Just because Sisk's comments were regarding what he considered to be non-threatening individuals (although anyone with a drug problem is potentially dangerous, IMO) does not mean that those are the same people being referenced by the Judge.  The Judge was probably thinking of more questionable cases.

I will probably vote for the Judge again as I see little wrong with the way the situation has been handled thus far.

[Greg Chamberlain]

In the course of my job, I am sick of seing the same people OVER AND OVER again, because our criminal justice system does not punish these professional criminals. I could name about 10 people off the top of my head taht I've caught multiple times - it's pathetic

Do you really think the reason you see them over and over again is because the system doesn't "punish" them enough?

[Larry]

I have read all of the posters up to this point in the thread and in my opinion NOBODY gets it!!!

J Pat or Sullivan, or whatever name you would like to be referred to, you are the one who does not "get it"!  I have seen your name in the police news many times and you have been through the Monroe County Court system more than once.  In fact, you have spent time in the Monroe County Jail system also.  I believe you do not know what the "cure" is or what the "problem" is.  You have not been rehabilitated nor have you been honest and forthcoming with this audiance of posters or any other audiances.

[/quote]We have taken the authority away from parents and redirected it to the responsibility of government who turn around and charge us as taxpaying citizens for the authority taken from us to raise OUR children.[/quote]

The Court system is in place to protect Children from parents like you.  If parents like you could be rehabilited then the court system would not be forced to be the bad guy.  It appears you are crying to loudly when you refer to the courts.  

[/quote]We have further compounded that problem by" guting the authority" of our teachers and even the police officers for fear of legal reprisal.[/quote]

You have compounded your own problems by asserting your "preceived authority" on those in opposition to you.  Your apparent disdain for any authority other than your own is alarming to say the least.

[/quote]It is a vicious and agenda based cycle that can only be remedied by a return of real authority to the parents as the first line defense against the societal ills we try to foolisly stave off like the liitle boy sticking his fingers in the hole of the leaky dike and running out of fingers ($$$$) before he runs out of holes to plug./quote]

I think to many parents like yourself have slipped through the court system and that is why we continue to have over crowding in our jail systems.  When children are abused, they grow up to be abusers unless they have a desire for change, which you do not have.  Therefore, you can not be rehibilitated.  You have to seek change.

[/quote]Promote parental involvement and ENCOURAGE and ENFORCE the rights of BOTH  parents to be parents of their children and you may see different and positive results occur that are less costly.[/quote]

If both parents are mentally functional, by all means, they should both be involved!  I think you spend too much time laying the blame for your actions on other people.  

[no one gets my name right anyway]

Smoking weed while driving? Well, that's different. Smoking weed while just hanging out? Who's being harmed here? Is the community in danger of turning into Rastafarians or something?

Smoking weed in public should be a slap on the wrist ticket, like 25 bucks. Such as they have in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.

I'm kind of an all-or-nothing kind of guy. If we allow alcohol and tobacco but not anything else (weed, etc), it's quite hypocritical, especially considering alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than weed ever was.

So you'd say it's also ok to do cocaine, heroine, etc. at home? That should be legal as well? Since they're not driving?

[jahadmin]

I think must of you are missing the point.  The jail is full because are current system does not work.  Jail is to easy on most.  Put the criminals behind bars and make them do their time then you won't have so many second, third and forth timers.  Jail is meant to punish not a vacation.  Start the chain gangs, put those in jail cleaning the roads.  They still do this down south and when you make someone cut weeds along the road in 90 degree days they won't want to come back.  Stick them in a cell, give them TV, Air Conditioning, free food, free room, free medical care, free higher education, why wouldn't someone care if they went to jail. 
As for the police and judges in Monroe they do a outstanding job with limited resources provided by our local officials.  I don't care what the crime is, if you break it you pay for it.  Crimes are made to protect our community and need to be enforced and punished for breaking them. 

[no one gets my name right anyway]

Jahadmin, you have a lot of valid points.  I do believe jail is harsh on some people but that is more the federal prisons and not local.  Half the time people are accused of felonies they get "work release", where they are "out" for 9 hours a day, gamble when they are in, and have meals cooked for them! They even find clever ways to smuggle drugs in for an extra hobby.  Sometimes these "work releasers" don't even have legitimate jobs, if any! Talk about ironic.

I've known people to steal $30,000 cars and have quite a bit of drugs on them and still don't serve true time.  Unless Monroe is drastically different from other counties in this area, I can't imagine too many people are serving undue time since those who should don't seem to.

[Frenchfry]

jahadmin,

What do you base your opinion on?
Have you ever been in our jail?

I think you are mistaken on how easy doing time is.
There is a whole dynamic that is quite unpleasant like if you drop the soap you have to watch your back before picking it up
The corrections officers are very unfriendly; there is no air conditioning, that free room has a daily charge you must have paid to get off probation/parole, there is no education, free medical care?.....I haven’t seen it.
Our jail doesn’t have a TV. How about the sweltering prisoners in Arizona that are fed moldy bread? I call that inhumane.

I doubt we have a high percentage of repeat offenders and of those I would have to say they must have diminished mental capacity or perhaps they’re unlucky.
Of course there are those that are so bad to the bone that they’re incorrigible but that’s what the prison system is for.
Most people learn their lesson.

The worst punishment of all is the permanent record that follows a person even though they’ve paid their debt to society.

It’s the uneducated perception of what happens in the criminal justice system and perhaps that information was acquired via a television program geared to distort the truth for ratings.
The federal pen has a few more amenities but they’re mostly for dirty cops, white collar criminals, and organized crime figures.

The American incarceration rate is highest in the world and rising, both by number and percentage of population.
We can not allow this to continue unabated.

Please do your homework and help find a viable solution.



no one gets my name right anyway,
You’ve got it bass ackwards and have a distorted sense of what happens behind bars.
Someone has spoon fed you a tall tale and I’m sorry to say….you were gullible.
I’d have to say your friend was probably a first offender and had the right attorney if in fact he didn’t serve “true time”.
Define “true time” in your book. Do you think the guy is thumbing his nose at the system or maybe feels lucky?

[no one gets my name right anyway]

no one gets my name right anyway,
You’ve got it bass ackwards and have a distorted sense of what happens behind bars.
Someone has spoon fed you a tall tale and I’m sorry to say….you were gullible.
I’d have to say your friend was probably a first offender and had the right attorney if in fact he didn’t serve “true time”.
Define “true time” in your book. Do you think the guy is thumbing his nose at the system or maybe feels lucky?

Well he's been in 2 prisons for over 2 years total, plus at least that same amount of time for work release. It was a county prison, so I can agree federal and state prisions are much worse.  He certainly is not a first offender - he has 3 felonies and about 13 misdemeanors. If he gets off with mild sentences, I can only imagine what other people get off with light sentences!

True time is defined as something that is a punishment or chance to change, not hanging out at your friend's house pretending to be on work release.

On another note: I think your responses might be better taken if you took a politer approach instead of a throat lunge upon people.