Judge William Walsh of Onandaga County sentenced Anthony Stewart, to 2 to 6 years for first degree robbery. Stewart and a friend had BB guns that looked real.They knocked a 73-year old man to the ground, and Stewart punched him in the face multiple times. They then took all his money, which amounted to 7 cents...I'm going to let that marinate for a minute. The victim had identified Stewart and his friend as the perpetrators. Walsh said he issued the harsh sentence because Stewart declined to plead guilty, choosing to fight the charges.His friend, and I'm using that term lightly,Skyler Ninham, 16, pleaded guilty in July and was sentenced to 1 to 4 years in prison. Now I do understand the concept of innocent until proven guilty, but sometimes you have to take the loss and keep it moving. Stewart's lawyer, Laurin Haddad, had pleaded with Walsh to treat her client as a youthful offender, so that a felony conviction wouldn't remain on his permanent record.
"For 7 cents, now you're making someone a felon for the rest of his life," she told the judge. I disagree,it was her client, who at 15 chose to run around with a BB gun that looked real, chose to act like felon and is now being treated like one. I have no sympathy at all. At 15 you know right from wrong. I can hear the comments now "What if that was your son?" If it was my son, the last thing he is gonna be worried about is a jail cell, his most pressing concern would be worrying about me, beating him down like he is a grown man. "What if he was poor or hungry and was looking for food?" 7 cents is not going to buy you anything to eat anyway. Lock him up now while he has a fake gun, or lock him up for life later, for using a real one. I take back what I said, I have some sympathy and do believe that everyone deserves a second chance. Hopefully this kid learns and doesn't let jail destroy him. I know plenty of people who went to prison and did not let it define them...this writer included.
In the words of Swizz Beats on to the next one! In Orlando Florida, Democratic State Senator Gary Siplin has been pushing six years for the so-called Pull Your Pants Up law. He finally got his wish last spring. The state legislature voted overwhelmingly to enact the ban at the start of the 2011-12 school year, making Florida one of only two states with a saggy pants ban for students. "We want our kids to believe they're going to college, and part of that is an attitude, and part of that is being dressed professionally," Siplin said. He originally wanted to make it a crime to wear saggy pants, but the current law subjects repeat violators to up to three days of in-school suspension and up to 30 days suspension from extracurricular activities. It also targets low-cut and midriff-exposing shirts on girls.Siplin handed out about a dozen belts donated by a local church to students who showed up with droopy drawers at Oak Ridge High School . He left another 25 belts with school administrators to hand out as needed. Siplin said he also gave away about 100 belts at two other high schools as students arrived last week for their first week of school. I for one am ecstatic about somebody taking a stand against this horrible fashion trend. Now granted I used to wear tight Lee jean suits and tight adidas sweatsuits, but never had them hanging off my behind.
Even when we started wearing baggy clothes, we still looked F.R.E.S.H!!!!The fashion trend has it's roots in the prison system.If some of these young men knew what it meant to let your pants "sag", they would pull them up in a hurry. Hip-Hop has a hand in this also, because kids are going to always follow a trend. If they see Lil Wayne wearing animal print dance skins at the VMA's, that is what they are going to want to wear. Siplin had to fight with the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, which contend the law violates personal freedom and unfairly targets minority students.I wouldn't say the targeting is unfair, but you call a spade a spade. If it's mainly minority kids wearing their clothes this way then so be it. If their parents aren't going to tell them to pull em up, somebody needs to. If your over 21 and your pants sag , you need to be smacked with a hardcover edition of The Autobiography of Malcolm X and made to watch the entire Roots DVD even part two with Halle Barry that was kind of wack. I'm out until next week so I leave you with this
1 comment:
It amazes me how the dollar amount, after the fact, is thought to be significant. They took 7 cents because that was all that the victim had. They did not set out to pull a 7 cent heist...totally irrelevant and it does not lessen the severity of the crime.
I don't even know what to say about the "pants on the ground." Unless you make it big in the rap game (odds are not favorable)chances are high that this trend will not lend itself to your future success? Dress codes are a reality at school and at work.
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