Off the Wall, Off the Rails

Darius McCollum has impersonated New York City transit workers, and, in such capacity, collected fares, operated New York City subway and commuter trains and buses.  His rap sheet reflects more than 30 stays as a guest in the Big House as a consequence of such activities, most of his adult life.  Now, having been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, he is claiming an addiction and demanding treatment as an addict instead of further disposition in the criminal justice system (read "jail time).

An acquaintance of mine, an Asperger's person who is a group manager at a national accounting firm, isn't buying McCollum's addiction excuse.  I'm not buying it either, but one person who is putting his money down on that number is filmmaker Adam Irving, who is doing a movie called "Off the Rails" about McCollum.

The whole thing would be a comical farce if the lives and safety of so many people were not jeopardized.

The Cost of School Security Guards

The New York City Council has just enacted legislation providing reimbursement for the cost of unarmed security guards in non-public schools (as this is written, the measure has yet to post on the NYC Council website).

I do have mixed sentiments about the whole thing.  On one hand, it obviously is a measure to pander to certain vested interests whom Mayor de Blasio has slighted in the past.  On the other hand, my son once attended an eligible non-public school in the City of New York.  And, if a law can be evaluated by those who oppose it, there are some Blaine Amendment criticisms now being bandied about.

The catch:  The security guards, it seems, would be "unarmed" and accordingly, of limited value in actually protecting the schoolchildren.

Meanwhile, in Florida, a burglar named Matthew Riggins was eaten by an alligator while trying to evade the sheriff's deputies who were pursuing him.

Perhaps the alligators could be flown in from Florida to guard the schools.

But Blaz's legislation not only requires that the guards be unarmed, but that they be paid a minimum of $18 per hour.  Will the animal rights activists demand parity pay for the gators?

And everyone, have a Happy Chanukah!

A Good Mobster

 Grave robbers and vandalizers rank quite low on the scale of criminals.  As the late Justice Michael Musmanno noted, in Kotal v. Goldberg, 375 Pa. 397, 405, 100 A.2d 630, 634 (1953):

" Those who have no respect for the dead can have but little appreciation of the dignity of man, either living or dead."

There are many who have quipped that a good Mafia mobster is a dead one.  Perhaps such a good mobster is exemplified by the late Fat Tony Salerno, former front boss of the Genovese crime family.

Fat Tony, though dead more than 20 years, helped the New York City Police Department get a confession -- and further cooperation -- from grave robber and vandal Louis Peduto.

Read the story here and enjoy!

 

Society's Investment in Felons

It seems that Diane McCloud couldn't stop stealing if her life depended on it. As reported here, here and here, Judge Francis Ricigliano had seen fit to show the 47-year-old Ms. McCloud some humane compassion by springing her from jail so that she would be eligible for the waiting list for a heart transplant. But Judge Ricigliano's humane compassion does have its limits, and Ms. McCloud pushed them too far with her 27th felony arrest last month. She now has to complete the sentence Judge Ricigliano cut short, plus serve the one on the latest charges for which she has pled guilty -- stealing cosmetics and diet pills from a CVS Pharmacy. Her incarceration puts her off of the waiting list for the heart transplant.

[I am, of course, rather skeptical regarding medical death prognoses for ill prisoners. Susan Atkins was supposed to have only 3 months left when she petitioned the California Parole Board for compassionate release, and she lived another year-and-a-half. Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, the "Lockerbie Bomber," was released on "compassionate" grounds because he was given 3 months to live, and, nearly 2 years later, is still alive and revered as a hero in Libya.]

If indeed the purpose of the criminal justice system is to rehabilitate those who can be rehabilitated, then society must be willing to invest in people who have been convicted of crimes. Judge Ricigliano was willing to invest in McCloud, but, like any prudent investor, decided to cut society's losses when the investment went sour.

Some people have been successfully rehabilitated by the system, and are worthy of society's investment. Judge Denny Chin believes (and I agree) that Vernon Lawson is one of them. Lawson, who served 13 years in prison for killing his wife, has, in Judge Chin's opinion, completely turned his life around, and should be granted his citizenship so that he can remain in America. Anent to the case of Lawson v. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, the following observations are now proffered:

1. Judge Chin is himself a naturalized American citizen.

2. Judge Chin is not reticent to incarcerate those who truly deserve incarceration. Remember that it was Judge Chin who sentenced Bernie Madoff to 150 years.

3. The USCIS's misplaced zeal in denying Vernon Lawson's application for citizenship stands in contradistinction to USCIS's willingness to hold America's door open for Muslim terrorists, Mexican drug dealers, and other assorted thugs and thieves.

License Tag gets Tagged

As reported here and here, Avrohom Eliezer Friedman's stolen car was returned to him as a result of a curious Florida police officer, whose interest was piqued when he saw "GMAIL" on the car's license tag. The officer, whose name has not yet come to my attention, punched in the tag alphametrics, found that the car was stolen, and made the arrest. The car was returned to Avrohom, and the car thief presumably was taken into custody.

Nice work, Florida Cop!!!

But look at the license tag in the pictures. It is a Florida Specialty License Plate. Not just any Florida Specialty License Plate, but a Florida Police Benevolent Association license plate, complete with the Florida PBA logo.

I am not, have never been, and have no plans to be in the car stealing business. Nevertheless, it would seem to me that when one is not in compliance with the law, the last thing one should strive to be is interesting to a law enforcement officer. Simple common sense must inescapably conclude that a car with PBA tags is inherently interesting to a law enforcement officer. Therefore, if I were in the car stealing business, I would make it a point to NOT steal cars with PBA tags on them.

My friends and acquaintances in the law enforcement field tell me that many a perp has been collared because some bored cop got curious and checked something out.