He made his choices and didn't learn a damn thing in the process. Now he is getting the lesson he'll never forget.
Posted on 11/14/2013 3:17:52 PM PST by dennisw
Patrick W. Matthews was jailed in 2009 at the age of 22, for stealing a $750 welding machine in Lousiana He was convicted under Habitual Offender Law - because he robbed a fruit stand as a teenager with a drug problem 3,278 people are incarcerated in the U.S. for minor offenses and 65% of inmates are black, according to ACLU
The family of a young father have revealed their heartache as he serves a life sentence - for stealing a power tool.
Patrick W. Matthews was jailed in 2009 at the age of 22, for stealing a $750 welding machine, some tools and a generator, according to court documents. Matthews, who has a history of drug abuse, was sentenced to life in a Louisiana prison for his crimes.
His case has come to light after a report was released this week by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which shows the shocking number of non-violent offenders who are facing the rest of their lives in jail for relatively small-time offenses.
Matthews, who had been using meth and heroin since he was a teenager, was sentenced under Louisiana's Habitual Offender law.
The harsh sentence came because the young man had prior convictions - one for stealing from a pawn shop and another from a fruit stand while he was a teenager and high on meth.
Matthews had never spent a day in jail before he was sentenced to a life term.
The father, who has a son Blayton, eight, and six-year-old daughter Hayley, told the ACLU: 'I never in the world would've thought that could happen.
'Made one mistake and was treated like a murderer.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The taxpayers are getting ripped off when they have to pay for this guys life time incarceration. This is stupid and cruel and unusual punishment. The judge must be an idiot
If I were the judge I would put him prison for 6 months with compulsory drug treatment
One mistake? Sounds like a whole bunch of mistakes.
cruel and unusual punishment for the taxpayers
You mean they aren’t stoning or cutting off fingers for stealing yet? Soon we will hav eto wear steel helmets to keep from being beheaded if we talk negatively about Allah or attend a Christian church.
So what would be reasonable? Says he has prior convictions but has never spent a day in jail so its apparent that probation wouldn’t work.
I personally would think 5 years would be reasonable. After all a welder isn’t exactly a stick of gum.
A person with three convictions has probably committed several more crimes for which he wasn’t caught, and I’ll leave others to comment about him fathering children at the age of 14.
I’m all for habitual offender, third strike laws—for serious offenses. This guy should get some time, but not life. Petty habitual theft sucks, and he should pay a price, but it’s not as if it’s his third shooting offense, either.
I can't speak to the Louisiana law involved here, but in many states, the three-strikes law is mandatory, giving the judge no discretion.
No, he made THREE STRIKES and he's out.
Those laws were duly implemented by legislatures at the behest of the victims of habitual criminals, and they worked.
Well I’ll send you my convict neighbor then, and you can see what it feels like when a habitual offender gets out and goes back to his life using and dealing drugs. Compulsory treatment doesn’t do a damn thing unless they want it to. Every couple years, when the loser gets out of prison and returns to his mother’s house, you can enjoy the experience of things you worked hard for disappearing from your yard, garage, and my house twice. And since you didn’t actually see him take the stuff, there is nothing the police can do for you but take a report. I have no sympathy for this guy. If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.
What's the problem with locking the bastard away?
“Sounds like a whole bunch of mistakes.”
Yes, agreed. However, I have to say that sentencing someone to life imprisonment when none of their previous offenses rated any jail time seems a bit extreme.
I remember when Jim Baker got sentenced to, like, 40 years for fraud (or whatever it was exactly) and my brother (no fan of Mr. Baker to be sure) was outraged over it. He said to me “you need to realize, the average murderer serves 3 years!”
Not sure if he was right on that, but there sure are a lot of killers who are out an about having “paid their debt to society”.
don’t wanna do the time? don’t do the crime.
This kid should have gotten 10 to 15 max...
He made his choices and didn't learn a damn thing in the process. Now he is getting the lesson he'll never forget.
I see something a little immoral about judging a crime based on previous crimes. If they’ve paid for those crimes then those cases are closed. They shouldn’t figure into the next case that comes along. I do think we need more serious punishments for minor crimes, however.
I would like to see the guy’s REAL record. That would include charges that were pleaded down/away, and stuff that was sealed when he was underage.
$60-70k/yr per inmate is nuts, when rehab & probation is a whole lot cheaper.
Cruel and Unusual punishment.
No sane person believes otherwise.
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