[theorem painter]

I was a probation officer in New York for 35 years so I know more about this than most. First I want to say what we know about a criminal case is what we read in the paper and that may or may not be true. It isn't fair to say a sentence is too lenient or too harsh based on the limited amount of information that we can get from the news. The people that work in the Criminal Justice System are here to protect the community and they do a good job of it with the restrictions that they have. I constantly read comments that "he should have gotten 10 years, they should have thrown the book at him, etc." But would you want your taxes to rise to pay for new prisons. Probably not. Sentencing a criminal is based on numerous factors and that is what I did for a living. I did investigations on presentenced criminals and made a recommendation to the Court based on background checks, social circumstances, risk to the community and victim impact. It is a system of graduated sanctions meaning that the first time offender is going to get community service, then Probation and finally jail time. Believe me, Probation is not easy. You have to report to someone regularly, give urine samples for drugs and alcohol, have a Probation Officer show up at your house any time, day or night, go to substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence and/or sex offender treatment. You can't leave your county of residence without permission. The list goes on and on. Don't think that because someone is on Probation that they are getting off.

I also want to say that most sentences are the result of a plea bargain and the reasons behind that plea bargain are not known to the public nor should they be. It might not be a strong case, the victim may not want to prosecute, etc. Don't assume the Judge is lenient because you don't agree with his sentence when you really know nothing about what went into his decision.