A Yolo County judge on Monday sentenced a man who walked out of a store with a package of cheese in his trousers to seven years and eight months in prison.
Prosecutors had originally sought a life sentence for Robert Ferguson under the state’s “three strikes” law. They dropped that bid last month, saying a psychological report had convinced them that a life sentence wasn’t warranted.
On Jan. 6, jurors convicted Ferguson of two counts of petty theft for snatching a woman’s wallet from the counter of a 7-Eleven store and for stuffing a bag of Tillamook shredded cheese worth $3.99 into his pants at Woodland’s Nugget Market.
That’s NACHO CHEESE!
So stealing $4 of cheese is a felony (which can get you life in jail), but stanching a woman’s purse during a mugging (assault) which probably has a lot more money in it (plus the purse is probably $10), is “petty theft?”
what the fuck is wrong here?
Last week there was a flurry of news stories about low crime statistics and the cause. Consensus is the three strikes law. Seems if you lock up the habitual criminals, the crime rate goes down.
I still bet there is more than one factor at play but locking everyone up does make sense.
what the fuck is wrong here? /// Ummm, you either didn’t read, or didn’t understand the article?
Bobbo, that story is a joke among readers of the New York Times. I think it Butterfield who annually writes articles like More People Incarcerated Despite Drop in Crime
Steal a cheese, you get 7 years in prison.
Steal billions of dollars, you get a government bailout.
We liberals told you this would happen.
We warned you of this stupidity during the “Three Strikes” mandatory sentencing hysteria that was at the center of conservatism about ten years ago.
But you conservatives called us “soft on crime” and DEMANDED we tie judges hands and send people behind bars for long terms, regardless of the triviality of the third-strike crimes.
Interesting:
” Parish said Ferguson was a career criminal who wouldn’t change. He had 13 prior convictions and had spent 22 of the past 27 years behind bars, yet still would not obey the law, the prosecutor said.
In 1994, Ferguson had escaped a three-strikes sentence, “Yet here we are again,” Parish said.
Defense lawyer Monica Brushia told the judge that Ferguson’s six prior burglary convictions occurred 30 years ago. His misdemeanor assault conviction was for throwing a soda can at one of his siblings when he was a teen, she said.”
“The judge gave Ferguson 825 days of credit for his time in jail awaiting trial and said Ferguson would be required to serve half his sentence in prison. He will be eligible for parole in less than three years.”
OK, this guy is AT LEAST 40 years old.
He has spent 825 days in jail WAITING already.(2.25 years) for stealing CHEESE.
Whatever the case, at a cost of around $40,000 per year to house and feed one inmate this is a taxpayer ripoff. Another one.
haha, another Rand social safety net success story!
Are you insane? Don’t worry! We have prison!
Can’t get health care? Don’t worry! We have emergency care!
“Whatever the case, at a cost of around $40,000 per year to house and feed one inmate this is a taxpayer ripoff. Another one.”
At 4 bucks a day it would only cost 1460 to just buy him the cheese every day.
Now he gets “government” cheese.
What you need is a national shredded cheese and wallet program.
(formerly just “Skeptic”)
#1 chris, that is hilarious. By the way, doesn’t the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protect us from ‘cruel and unusual punishment’? Any reasonable person would consider a seven year sentence for a $4 bag of cheese cruel and unusual. Also, where the hell did this ‘three strikes’ nonsense originate? Seems like a specious idea to me.
Nutty case no doubt. But what can one expect from the county of “Yolo” O.o
As Beck would have said in his own words, “…no come on, would you want to visit a place that sounds like a disease (or insert your own reference here). I know I wouldn’t.”
Thank God he only speaks American or else he be shocked that there are other languages out there and some of them don’t sound pleasing although the sound doesn’t translate to a country ridden with diseases 🙂 Heck of a ignorant funny guy this Beck is 😀
Going to prison is probably the best way to get free healthcare if you can’t afford the premiums or get denied!
“Also, where the hell did this ‘three strikes’ nonsense originate?”
I believe it started in California, where the prison-industrial system is at its greatest. It is, I can guarantee you, a result of said prison-industrial system: Incarcerate more, more, more! Build more prisons! Make new things crime!
Bobbo – your (or their, I don’t wish to impugn thoughts to you that are not your own) logic (incarcerate all the criminals => no more criminals) is seriously flawed. We have no static definition of what is or is not “crime” – society determines what is “criminal” and what isn’t. Assuming you lock up all the murderers, then after a while, society will “evolve” such that we’ll start to believe less serious crimes are more heinous. Consequently, less seriously damaging behaviour becomes criminalized by virtue of the fact that you’ve reduced “society” down to a less tolerant group. Eventually, you reduce all of society to three pious pricks locked in their parent’s basement, who have never so much as met another human being in their life, and doing anything becomes criminalized.
You will *never* get rid of crime, because crime is just society’s way of getting rid of its unwanteds.
hhhmmm i wonder what he would do for a klondike bar…
#17–Aberrant==of course “laws are not static.” Thats the genius of our system: justice WITH flexibility. Pure Genius.
What do you think is more aberrant: three strikes law for stealing cheese, or no public (mental) health system in an “advanced” western culture? === And for John–or no alternate sentencing options besides jail?
BTW, FYI, FWIW, IMHO–jailhouse medicine is too often worse than no treatment at all, but when it comes to mental health, our system is set up to punish people ((good christians that we are)) rather than “give” people free healthcare.
Thats just the way we roll. Every voting American really could carry gang signs. I’m thinking the $ with an good “F-U” shaved into the hair. Again, not a tatoo, just shave the hair–gotta keep that flexibility for future catch phrases.
>> The Aberrant said, on March 2nd, 2010 at 3:14 pm
>> “Also, where the hell did this ‘three strikes’ nonsense originate?”
I think you are right that it started in California but the movement of mandatory sentencing and “get tough on crime” is central to conservatism.
Absurd third-strike sentencing is only one side of the problem.
The other side is geriatric prisoners who are no longer a danger to society but can’t be released because of mandatory sentencing laws.
This is another needless, massive budget buster that the conservatives demanded and got.
The Three Strikes type laws were originally intended to keep violent felons away from society. Commit three violent crimes and you do not get to prey on society anymore. The key word is Violent Felonies. I don’t know what BS happened here in this case but it is a load of crap.
What? Are you people suggesting he isn’t a danger to society?
#22
that means he hurts OTHERS,.
Not just himself.
Companies and corps dont count..]
FYI, FWIW, Tillamook is _excellent_ cheese!
Are you sure this guy’s name isn’t Jean Valjean?
Yeah but where do you put these perps? High rise prisons? Or take a leaf out of Judge Death’s book of jurisprudence.
“Steal a cheese, you get 7 years in prison.
Steal billions of dollars, you get a government bailout.”
Angel H. Wong: More correctly, a _taxpayer_ bailout. And considering that a large part of that money is borrowed, a _future_ taxpayer bailout _with interest_.
“With liberty and justice for all (banks, corporations and individuals who have net annual incomes of $10 million or more).”
For those that didnt get the POINT..
He has already spent 2.25 YEARS in jail waiting for TRIAL..
Add the 7.?? and thats 10 years.
Parole at 5 years.
“[prosecutors] said a psychological report had convinced them that a life sentence wasn’t warranted.”
Is it clear if the psychological report was on the prosecutors in this case ?
Ah crap! What happened to the good old days when they’d have just tied the dude to a tree and flogged him then sent him home a sadder but wiser man.
Isn’t this pretty much how Les Miserables starts? 19 years for stealing bread.