Tying Up The Courts---What A Waste Of Money!!!
Two stories in my local paper

spurred my indignation level.

Two years after being convicted of murder, Michael Skakel’s attorneys have decided that there is a statue of limitations on murder, and his conviction should be overturned. Really now. And worse still, the attorneys claim that the prosecution erred in closing arguments by calling him a killer and a spoiled brat. Well, I think that’s what closing arguments are. Arguments. And almost any argument should be okay. ( Same with the defense, by the way. ) And I think that there should be a statue of limitations on horse-feathers appeals.

The other store was about a woman named Audra Soulias, who accused William Kennedy Smith of sexually assaulting her: SEVERAL YEARS AGO! Oh and by the way, in case you missed the story, she then admittedly had consensual sex SEVERAL TIMES after the supposed assault. Say what??? I think we know why she continued to have sex with him.

I don’t know if Smith was innocent or not; ( he was acquitted, by the way ). What I do know is that she should have reported the alleged assault the same night, and then she should have stayed out of his bed and out of his life, except for charging him with a crime then, not 5 yrs. later.

I don’t know why the courts allow this kind of crap. It is an asinine waste of court time and tax-payer’s money. How about we deluge our congressman with
e-mails and faxes to write some intelligent legislation about this.

A. Charges must be pressed against anybody within 30 days, with law enforcement having the needed time to make a case or not. Accusations should ABOLUTELY not me made public until charges are brought, to avoid slandering those who really are innocent. I don’t believe
the public has a right to know who is being investigated; only who is being charged. ( Actually, I don’t believe the public has a right to know anything about other people’s business, but that’s another letter. )

B. People like Audra Soulias should be prosecuted for something between malicious mis-use of the courts and just plain stupidity.

C. Convicted criminals should have 90 days to file their one and only appeal. Too many bites from the apple as it is.

D. Once convicted ( after losing the appeal ) criminals must serve the time. And no time off for good behavior. What the heck does that mean anyway? It should be added time for bad behavior.

E. And just for luck, ignore the nonsense about judge’s discretion. Too damn many activist judges as it is. The courts should be run like I run my restaurants. I pay my managers , tell them how I want the food prepared and served, and they do what I pay them to do. Well, I think judges are like my managers; they are told what is law.

We, the bosses, through our elected officials, write the laws, prescribe the sentences so they are consistent everywhere, and pay the judges to run the court proceedings and inflict the punishment if a criminal is convicted. Very simple. If the judges feel the need to inflict their opinions and do things their way, they should resign and run for congress.

Rock

The “ Unjustice ’’ System

Sometimes it’s virtually impossible to imagine what goes through a person’s mind.
A story in the Republican-American details the sentencing of four employees who got caught stealing furniture from their employer, Hitchcock Chair Company. They were all given suspended sentences and probation. Whoop-te-doo. The judge, Alexandria DiPentima, said the sentences were appropriate in light of probation investigations.
What the hell does that mean? She also ordered restitution. Who monitors that?

Now the story gets worse. Not only were the employees caught on tape by a private investigator, but the company’s owner placed these people in charge of tracking down the thefts in the first place. Oops. The owner made the mistake of putting the fox in the hen house. Does this mean that the guilty should get off so lightly? Company president Ronald Coleman Jr. said “ I don’t agree with this and I don’t understand it. ’’
Well, Mr. Coleman, permit me to enlighten you, if I may. These poor folks didn’t really understand what they were doing. They needed furniture for themselves and their friends. and even at wholesale, your fine quality made the merchandise too expensive. And they worked very hard, and felt that you never really paid them quite enough. Therefore, they created their own compensation. Even though that created delivery problems for your legitimate customers, what the heck? Small price to pay to help out four fellow citizens down on their luck.

And the judge? Well, of course, she just felt so sorry for these poor, downtrodden people, so abused by the capitalistic oppressors, that she had no choice but to let them go. And that is exactly what she did. She let them go. A slap on the wrist, maybe a wink and a nod, and once again justice goes unserved. The worst of it is there will never be an end to soft-headed judges imposing their own brand of injustice until the legislature sets specific punishments. Forget the word guidelines. It doesn’t work. Forget the judges’ arguments that their legal training makes them smart enough to know what’s best. That’s pure crap. What’s best is that if you do a crime, you will do time. Real time. Hard time. Commentary invited.