The Legal System on Crack
I heard about this on the radio this morning.

To quickly recap the story, a man in NJ is standing trail for theft in which the prosecution is asking for a sentence of 5 - 10 years. While this in itself isn’t very newsworthy, what the man stole was.

The man is accused of stealing 58 cents from a car.

Yes, you read that right. He stole $0.58, which isn’t even enough money to buy a copy of the New York Times. It’s not enough to buy an apple pie at McDonald’s or a bottle of water at a convenience store.

To me, this seems like a ridiculous thing to even talk about. The hosts of a local radio station here in the Bay Area were talking about the topic and they both had different views on the situation.

Julie, who brought up the topic felt that this was the stupidest thing in the world and that she felt that the punishment should fit the crime. Drunk drivers get off with a slap on the wrist, while a man should spend 10 years of his life in a prison for stealing 58 cents.

Gene however felt that the law is the law. It doesn’t matter if the amount he stole was 58 cents or if it was $58,000. The fact of the matter was that the man broke the law, committed a crime and should be punished accordingly. Justice is blind and that if an exception is made in this case then it sets a dangerous precedent for future cases. At what amount do you say, “ok, that should be a felony”?

As I think about this case, my opinion on it changes constantly. Sometimes I think that yes, the punishment should fit the crime and that this is something that we’ve been abiding to for as long as we’ve had a legal system. After all, the death penalty isn’t used against shoplifters. Crime sentencing is something that is for all practical purposes, subjective. The judge is the one in the end who decides what the punishment should be.

But then, I have to agree with Gene. The amount of money that was stolen is really insignificant. If a man runs into a bank and attempts to rob it and comes out with only a few dollars, then should he be scolded and sent home? The man in NJ didn’t know how much money was in the car when he broke into it. It is the intent, not the result which should be examined. Attempted murder in the US is a very serious crime after all.

But one thing is clear to me. Whatever the end result of this case, one thing is undeniable. The taxpayers of NJ are the ones who will lose out in the end. As of now, the state has spent $16,000 keeping this man in custody along with prosecuting him. If he is sent to prison for the maximum 10 years, then the total bill will be somewhere in the realm of $260,000.

I hope this change I made to the comments will work.