Glam Rocker In'Nam Slammer
Yesterday's post on the child molester who evaded serving time in a Nebraskan prison because he was too SHORT reminded me of this child molester from a few months back. All that glitters is not gold.
Paul Francis Gadd
aka GARY GLITTER (Rock and Roll Part 2) was sentenced to 3 years in prison for apparently 'teaching English' (his version of events) to the private parts of Vietnamese girls. Pictured here on the right, Glitter's desperate court room tactics included, in what can only be described as the shrewdest of career moves, an obvious make-over attempt to resemble
the Vietnamese Revolutionary Hero
HO CHI MINH...........DHO!.
(Rock and Roll RRRock!...Rock and Roll..)Hope you like DDDuck!..with your egg roll...
To me, this points to a couple of the insanities of our present criminal "justice" "system..."
ReplyDeleteFirst, long mandatory sentences are needed if the overiding goal is what I think it should be: to protect additional people from being victimized.
Second, re. "short" people- seems like an odd physical characteristic to use, there are guys a lot shorter than me who can bench press more than I ever could... But anyway, assuming the point is that a shorter person is at greater risk of being preyed on in prison than others...
People shouldn't be allowed to prey on other people in prison. The idea that this sort of state-sanctioned chaos somehow "helps punish them better" is lunacy.
If we want to abolish the "cruel and unusual punishment" clause, then let's stop being hypocrites, sink to a new low, and start torturing US citizens as well as foreigners.
Otherwise, let's get our prisons under control. "Punishing" adults in the sense of allowing them to be victims of crime in prison can't do anything but make them more inclined to criminal behavior when they get out. Speaking for myself, if I'd ever gone to prison and then had stuff like that happen to me, I'd have come out 1000 times as mad as I might have been when I went in...
Darius,
ReplyDeleteOur North American prison system is in an almost complete state of disrepair. I agree that it was flippant to excuse prison tit for tat as a plausible recourse for punishing any crime.
My liberal sensibilities are put to the test when violent crimes are involved. I instinctively prefer the elimination of the entire gene pool of incurables. I have seen documentaries on restitutional rehabilitation in the Scandinavian countries that were quite impressive.
As the protecter of young children I would prefer not to ever have to face the prospect of exacting pioneer justice should such an individual invade my home. But I would not hesitate..not even for a second.
I have the same feelings. If we still lived in the jungle (literally) it would even make sense to act on them. I mean, if you had someone preying on a community's children without the ability to restrain them provided by metal bars. But since we have that ability, I prefer the rehab approach you mention coupled with stiff sentences. Because once in a while you do hear of someone really changing their life around.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your trenchant comment to posgospel! I'll be responding to it. Of all posts, I figured that one would be about the least appealing to atheists.
But is isn't really a statement of belief... I'll be explaining...
Hey, perhaps instead of prison, they could just put this guy in a racoon costume and let me run over him!? Just kidding. I read that article and was disgusted. I was an unusually short child and it just made me want people to treat me normally all the more. However, in this case, I'm sure he's appreciative that his stature got him out of something. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense...
ReplyDeletesome offenders have brains mapped differently. they found that on schizophrenics and extreme sportsman. so, would it be fair to punish them, when it is a physiologic imbalance?
ReplyDeletecan we please move on to the important stuff, like brad and angelina's new marketing tool, shiloh?
ReplyDeleteI don't intend to sound flippant, because this is an horrific case and the fact the five-footer can thank his lucky stars he's so small in this case points to the absurdity of the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteHe found some judge who was more concerned with his well-being than with the other issues he was SUPPOSED to deal with -- like a proper penalty for the guy that would not only put him away for his crime but send a message to society other than the judge ended up sending, which is that it's OK to victimize a 12-year-old if you're small.
I agree with Darius that people shouldn't be allowed to prey on other people in prison. But it's more important that people shouldn't be able to prey on 12-year-olds in open society, and then not get properly penalized for it.
The U.S. and Canadian prison systems are a disaster, we know that. But at the moment, that's all we've got. Cons get free TV, they get fed, they even get to have sex in little prison-approved trailers, all at taxpayer expense.
If they're not going to lock these criminals up in an 8 x 8 cell with a hole in the floor and pass their meals to them through the cell bars, and forget about this mamby-pamby half-assed attempt at rehabilitation for such serious offenders, and if they're going to let the prison populations mingle, then I say leave them to their fates.
If the five-foot guy is from a gene pool that produces five-feet guys, the same gene pool likely was at least partially a cause for his victimizing the 12-year-old.
We can argue about how society's ills likely produced a 60-inch-tall mini-monster like this, but that's the way it is.
The question is, what do we do with him now? Do we put his welfare first, which is what happened here?
Or do we say he chose to be a predator, and we cannot condone such action, and leave him to potentially be eaten by all the bigger, meaner carnivores he would find inside the prison?
It's called the food chain. Frog eats fly, fish eats frog, bear eats fish. He chose to be the frog. Now the judge has decided to remove him from the pond for his own safety.
How do you feel about that if you're the fly or all the other flies?
darius,
ReplyDeletelet's hope that we never have to find out what we'd do..amen.
trish,
smokin'perps in the trishmobile is a fantastic idea..I want the movie rights...call me!
mistipurple,
they can get all of the shrink wrapping that they can handle..as long as it's behind bars
rey,
thank goodness the two most beautiful people on earth have mated..if you can get a photo of shiloh you can retire tomorrow...
within,
i am not sure if we will ever get serious about it until it happens to someone who is important and connected...it's a pathetic reflection of out bankrupt system...children are our greatest treasure..
especially shiloh jolie-pitt