Patterico's Pontifications

5/26/2006

Judge: Child Molester Too Short for Prison

Filed under: Crime,General — Patterico @ 8:44 pm



Tall enough to molest a 12-year-old, but too short to go to prison for it.

UPDATE: On Thursday, commenter Dana gave his take on this.

12 Responses to “Judge: Child Molester Too Short for Prison”

  1. Too bad judges cannot be held liable for the repercussions of their decisions.

    What we need is a variation of Gowachin laws

    Gowachin laws do not proliferate; each new decision replaces all precedents. The Legum who loses the argument in the Courtarena forfeits his life, as may both the innocent and the guilty. Law is infrequently invoked, and the concentration on justice is immense.

    Dan Kauffman (0cf47b)

  2. “Shortness is not a defense.”

    It shouldn’t be, but apparently it is in Lincoln NE.

    DRJ (60b1d3)

  3. the mythical greek giant procrustes had the answer for this.

    assistant devil's advocate (8cdbb5)

  4. I finally scooped Patterico; I got my story in on the 25th! 🙂

    Dana (dd8e7e)

  5. If you are too short to do the time, don’t do the time

    Don Singleton (dd264a)

  6. You would think that being short would make a small cell seem, well, spacious! I guess the judge thought the perp would squeeze through the bars and escape, causing a costly fugitive hunt and he (the judge) was just trying to save the taxpayers money.

    Ray (be81f9)

  7. Well, I think Randy Newman should be consulted on this matter. He’s had quite a bit to say on the topic of short people.

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  8. It occurred to me to try making a Randy Newman joke for this post. Couldn’t think of a funny one.

    Patterico (50c3cd)

  9. The article said the State would appeal the sentence. How’s that work?

    Spoons (5d4c76)

  10. From the linked article:

    But Joe Mangano, secretary of the National Organization of Short Statured Adults, agreed with the judge’s assessment that Thompson would face dangers while in prison because of his height.

    To which I will respond by quoting Sammy Davis, Jr., in his brilliant turn singing the theme song from “Baretta:”

    “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time, yeh!”

    McGehee (5664e1)

  11. The article said the State would appeal the sentence. How’s that work?

    Jury verdicts are unappealable, but AFAIK sentences and JNOV are not. IIRC Louise Woodward’s piddly sentence was appealed, too.

    Xrlq (f52b4f)

  12. Apparently Mr. Mangano’ ridiculous and dangerous position is not supported by his fellow NOSSA members. He has been removed from the organization. A statement to that effect is on the front page of the NOSSA website:
    http://www.shortsupport.org/ . Thank goodness for some common sense. This judge and Mr. Mangano had severely damaged my faith in humanity’s humanity and commen sense. The statements by prosecutors, senators and the NOSSA have restored it to some degree.

    Jacquelyn DeSear (60bd39)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0755 secs.