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.
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.
#18 admfubar – Thanks! That’s the best thing I’ll read today!
“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).”
You know,”I was only following orders” didn’t keep a shitload of Axis leaders out of prison or from the hangman’s noose for committing atrocities. Seems like we should start holding Judges and prosecutors to a like standard, instead of them parroting “It’s the LAW!” to justify their actions.
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.