Another justice rant

I've been reading more about Chelsea King's murder, and found that the suspect had a sentence imposed previously that was in contradiction to a psychiatrist's warning, and in his criminal history:

Prosecutors said in 2000 that Gardner's lack of significant prior criminal record justified less than the maximum sentence for molesting a 13-year-old girl.

This brings up one of my pet peeves. In my world, the punishment for X should be Y, not a range of A to D. John Gardner's (the suspect) lack of previous criminal convictions should have absolutely nothing to do with how he's sentenced in a discrete action. One of the biggest jokes I know of is the line 'Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.' ....... we should add at the end 'unless you have a really good attorney or know someone.'

I need to stop thinking about this .....

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