Mugger Gets 75 Years in Prison?

A large Black man who punched a 101-year-old White woman and fractured her jaw to steal ten bucks in 2007 is now going to jail for 75 years. This definitely leads to questions about how we view justice in America.

Of course this guy deserves his time, but how about others? It seems like every week you find out about someone who committed a DUI manslaughter and got away with 2 years probation. There are people who viciously kill and get away with less than 25 years on a regular basis. The Phillip Garrido character who kidnapped and raped a woman got out of jail after only ten years. Does that mean this mugger will get out in five or fewer?

Are the elderly more valuable than the younger people of America? America is one of the only countries that shows almost no respect for the aged. What if the man had mugged a younger person? Would he still be getting 75 years? If he had broken the jaw of a 20-year-old, what kind of sentence would that lead to? A couple years at the most? How about a 40-year-old? Is it less a matter of age than the physical condition of the victim? Would he have gotten 75 years for punching a guy with cerebral palsy?

If you get 25 years or less for raping a 30-year-old, would you get 400 years for raping a 100-year-old? Okay you're right, let's never think about that again... But there's absolutely no consistency here and you need consistency for the justice system to put fear in prospective criminals. You can't have it all up in the air in a game of chance because most criminals are gamblers, that's why they commit crimes to begin with. There's the chance they might get away with it, then even if they get caught, there's the chance they won't be adequately punished due to a judicial fuck up.

Then again the whole reason for this 75 year sentence is the sheer outrage and disgust regarding the crime. If that's the case, why does a guy who has sex with a horse only get three years? Surely that's mildly more disgusting than mugging an old lady, which would you rather watch? I guess it's up to personal opinion. Of course this guy would have committed more crimes had he been let off easy, but who's to say any criminal wouldn't? Why not lock them all up for life if they're repeat offenders? Also, this was one case where they actually had cold hard evidence and could really get behind putting a guy in jail for as long as they wanted without a hint of doubt about his guilt, which is not a feeling often felt in American courts.