Aug
10
Two of the Stupidest Ideas…
“[A]nother consequence of the over-reaction to Covid-19 has been the incredibly reckless release of violent criminals from prison. It has put the public at unnecessary risk while besmirching the memory of innocent victims and injuring their family members once again.” — Jeff Crouere, political columnist/commentator & author
Apparently, while face masks, soap/sanitizer, and social-distancing are largely adequate for the general public, it won’t work for guests of the penal system. (You know, those who have done really bad things, such that the courts decided they needed to be kept isolated from the rest of the population.) The solution? Release thousands of criminals — some of them quite violent (murderers, rapists, etc.) — into the rest of the population and hope for the best. Crazy, right? But, that’s what is happening in several places throughout the nation, with predictable consequences.
Jeff Crouere provides examples at Townhall…
1) Joseph Williams was one of 150 inmates released this March in Hillsborough County, Florida. He was arrested several days later for his part in a homicide that took place one day after his release from prison. He was charged with second degree murder.
2) Rudy William Grajeda Magdaleno (see pic), a convicted child molester, was released in April in Orange County, California. Two weeks later, Magdaleno was arrested again after exposing himself to others at a parole resource center.
3) California Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to release 8,000 inmates by the end of August. One of those is Tereba Williams, who still had 64 years left on her sentence for the horrific murder of Kevin Ruska in 2001. “Unfortunately, all of Mr. Ruska’s family now must worry about this irresponsible release. Since she was convicted of murder, Williams should not have been released under any circumstances.” Anyone want to take odds we’ll see her in the news again?
4) Rape suspect Ibrahim E. Bouaichi was released from prison in April in Alexandria, VA. Despite Bouaichi being indicted on charges of rape, sodomy, abduction, strangulation, and burglary, former presiding Circuit Court Judge Nolan Dawkins ordered his release on a $25,000 bond, and he was released to “home confinement”. Karla Elizabeth Dominguez Gonzalez, who accused him of rape last December and testified against him, was found shot to death on July 29. Local authorities said Bouaichi did it. There was a car chase, an accident, and Bouaichi shot himself. He is in critical condition. So, in addition to the tragedy of Gonzalez’s death, taxpayers are now on the hook for paying to keep this scumbag alive.
Meanwhile in New York City, three Manhattan hotels — the luxury Belleclaire on Broadway, the Lucerne on West 79th Street, and the more down-market Belnord on West 87th Street — are being used to relocate and house hundreds of homeless people. This includes those who are mentally ill, some recovering from drug addictions, and registered sex offenders. (The Belleclaire is one block away from a public school playground.) Could they have picked a more inopportune time for this little social experiment?!
No surprise (by anyone with half a brain), the result has been “a spectacle of public urination, catcalling and open drug use” in the Upper West Side. So, why would the hotels in question put up with this? I doubt they are happy about it, but it probably can’t hurt their public image (to Democrats and Leftists, at least) that they are helping these poor, unfortunate people during the crisis. There are actually 139 area hotels being used as temporary homeless shelters.
“In order to defuse that ticking [COVID-19] time bomb, we implemented a massive emergency relocation of human beings from those [overcrowded] congregate shelters throughout the city, more than 10,000 in about eight weeks,” Commissioner Steven Banks, Dept. of Homeless Services
The Department of Homeless Services (not Dept. of Homeland Security, as has been mistakenly reported elsewhere) is paying out an average $175 a day per homeless person — i.e., two guys in a room at $350 a day. (The Lucerne’s normal price is close to $400/night, but they may be hurting for occupants during the pandemic.) All told, that’s hundreds of millions of dollars for a contract that will “likely be renewed” after October. According to the NY Post, city officials confirm that the source of the funds is split between FEMA (75%) and the city (25%).
According to a local community board member, residents were given no say in the plan and little or no notice of sex offenders (and others) moving into their neigborhood. They are angry and scared and don’t like it one bit. As reported by PJ Media‘s Rick Moran,
“A group of rabbis asked to see the mayor. No response. The local PTA sent a concerned letter. It was ignored.”
The mindset behind releasing violent criminals into the general population, or of housing addicts, sex offenders, and mentally ill individuals in good (i.e., otherwise clean and fairly safe) neighborhoods, is asinine, misguided, irresponsible, and (as Crouere said) incredibly reckless. The judges, governors, city leaders, and other officials responsible share the guilt for whatever crimes happen as a result and should personally share in the costs and other punishments that follow.
But, even if they did, that won’t restore those who have been robbed, accosted, murdered, raped, or otherwise molested — crimes that could have been avoided if the perpetrators had been kept in prison or at least away from their victims.
P.S. Before you accuse me of being insensitive to the plight of the homeless (well, some of them, anyway), you are wrong. I’m just saying that this is a poor solution that puts regular citizens at unnecessary risk and negatively affects local businesses. It would make more sense to reconsider using those barely used or unused field hospitals that were assembled months ago, when computer models predicted a much bigger breakout of the pandemic.
