Failed arsonist gets sentenced
A man who failed in his attempt to firebomb the house of Francesco Del Balso a year ago has been sentenced to 27 months in jail. Del Balso was murdered by a more efficient assailant a month later.
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Ephraim 08:25 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
Sometimes I wonder what the purpose of the jail sentence is. Will this really change this person? Can he be reformed in any way? Maybe we need to look at how we do this…. maybe having to repay the societal costs with a lien and garnishment (non-cancellable) might be more of a deterrent than anything else. I mean, losing your house, your bank account and having your future income lowered is a lot more punishing than 27 months with room and board while trying to dodge sexual advances. Maybe a community service job that you have to do to fill what would otherwise be leisure time. I’m sure we have government buildings that we need to clean and paint. Certainly we could use people drawing new clear road lines in Montreal. We need a much better way to punish people. It’s like telling a kid to go to his room, with all his toys and electronics… it’s not a punishment. They get rewarded in the end for having done the time and not giving up their compatriots.
Blork 09:02 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
Interesting perspective, and I often ponder the same questions. However, with people like this I think the garnishment would basically just push the perp further into crime, as he no longer just needs money for food and shelter and to wear flashy clothes to impress his fellow criminals; he needs even more money to pay the garnishment. Thus, descent into higher-stakes (and better paying) crimes.
Kate 10:45 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
Garnishment also works only if someone has a regular salary. Do we think the typical perpetrator does?
Ephraim 12:02 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
@Kate & @Blork – That’s part of it, he has to get a regular paying job, at least until it’s fully paid. So, they have to get regular work that can pay the garnishment which will limit the hours they are available to do crime.
Blork 15:08 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
…unless their “regular job” comes courtesy of Uncle Vinny, who pays him a nominal salary for a non-existent job while his real job is all under-the-table.
Ephraim 18:33 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
I’m sure you can require him to hold a job with no mob ties. With a maximum repayment schedule, so they can’t pay it off and get him out of it too soon.
Ian 06:50 on 2024-07-10 Permalink
“Uncle Vinny” could just give them a stipend off the books so it doesn’t matter if our guy gets his wages garnished 100% or1%.This leads us back to the old days when the rich would just buy out their sentence, or just toss coins out the window of their carriage whenever they hit someone.
It’s like parking fines, if you have enough money it just costs 95-250 bucks to park wherever you want. No big deal to someone that can afford a Ferrari.