The world is sick of the Jodi Arais court battles, but here in Arizona it’s too much daily and too often. It was bad enough going through the trial (that has cost over $2 million tax dollars) but now we have to go through a penalty phase to see if she gets the death penalty or life.
It looks like another OJ legal battle. We all know that everyone has a right to a fair trial, but our judicial system has gone nuts with outlandish “Fair” trials.
When we get through another million-dollar or more trial for the penalty phase of Jodi’s trial… and if she gets the death sentence, there will positively be an appeal. Hello… another million or two WE pay for on her defense. Then, if she gets the death sentence, she will sit on death row for years and more years, and finally… they commute the sentence to life in prison, right? It happens all the time!
We are blessed with the right to a fair and speedy trial and that’s good, but a fair trial doesn’t mean dragging things out for months and months. It also doesn’t mean you should get a team of expensive attorneys bleeding the taxpayers dry. Figure that one out on your calculator.
Part of the reason for overcrowded prisons is because there are thousands of people sitting on death row for several years and that costs us around $90,000 a year for EACH one. Figure that one out on your calculator and add the cost of violent crime by those who are released from prison before they should be.
Our justice system continuously releases murders, rapists, drug dealers and violent slime before their time is served… because of “Good” behavior while they were in prison. Well, they are supposed be on good behavior.
Time and time again we see people involved in violent crime AGAIN, after they have been released from prison, and most of them had lengthy rap sheets of repeated offenses prior to being arrested.
There are far too many violent criminals released into our neighborhoods, and since level 3 sex offenders are likely to offend again… what the hell are they released for? Why are they letting us know they are living in our neighborhood? So WE can help baby sit and watch them?
Let me quote the Federal Department of Justice; “Over 10,000 ex-prisoners are released from America’s state and federal prisons every week and arrive on the doorsteps of our nation’s communities. More than 650,000 ex-offenders are released from prison every year, and studies show that approximately two-thirds will likely be rearrested within three years of release.”
When they talk about prison reform, they need to talk about building more prisons, less early releases because of overcrowding and less country club atmosphere… like Yuma Territorial prison was… and Sheriff Joe’s Jail is now in Maricopa County.