Priorities need reevaluation

Published Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Since we have the same attorney general and court system as Elmore and Autauga counties, this applies to all.

Where is our sense of justice and fairness? The past few weeks, the Elmore County Courts have tried the No. 1 assistant to a man who shot and killed a man in a department store parking lot in cold blood to steal his vehicle. It could have been me, you, or anybody. The man had stopped by on his way from work to buy baby diapers. The man was unarmed and was unaware he was about to die, leaving his wife with a baby to raise.

It was a senseless, intentional and random shooting. His No. 1 assistant was tried and given 13 years with allowance for time served in jail. He will probably be out in three or four years and can get on with his life as he chooses.

In this same court, there was a man in his 20s who mentioned to someone that he had a sexual relationship with a girl who was 15 when he was 17. Two years difference in age between teenagers. He was given 30 years in prison.

He will serve many years and wear a scarlet letter as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Why don’t we require robbers and thieves to wear a sign to that effect when out in public and those convicted of DUIs to have car tags with drunk driver on it?

Isn’t somebody guilty of a crime every time a pregnant girl under 16 goes to Medicaid for medical attention? How many convictions have we had in those circumstances?

Another thing going on is these cities passing laws requiring sex offenders not to live within 2,000 feet, some places 2,600 feet, from a church, school, daycare or park. The result is there is nowhere in cities for them to live, therefore they are dumping them out in ruraly areas where law enforcement is thin. I’ll bet you don’t know there are 86 in Chilton County. Eight are in the Verbena area. Coosa has 36, Autauga has 83 and Elmore has 144, but some of those are in prison.

Alabama state law requires the sheriff to keep up with these people but does not pay the county anything to do it. The law enforcement agencies could better use their time doing other things.

Don’t get me wrong: anybody who entices or forces a pre-teen child into a sex act should be eligible for execution. They know better.

– Lee Dennis, Verbena

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