THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 28, 1996 TAG: 9606270183
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 32 lines
A judge in Pennsylvania has taken a giant step when it comes to juvenile crime. While the crime itself, cow burning, does not seem like much of an offense when we consider 6-year-olds beating infants, children throwing children out of windows and teenagers carrying guns and selling crack, maybe if sentencing guidelines took a harder line, our country could get a grip on juvenile crime.
We need to reverse the process by putting fear and respect back into retribution. Judge Richard N. Saxton, ruling in rural Clinton County, punished an offending 17-year-old with one month detention, 16 weeks of juvenile boot camp and 400 hours of community service working for the dairy farmer whose pregnant cow was set ablaze. The youth was also ordered to pay full restitution for the loss, obtain his GED, surrender his driver's license and sell his car, turning over the proceeds to the cow's owner.
While I think the cows in Clinton County are safe, we have a bigger task before us - juvenile offenders must get the message Judge Saxton decreed loud and clear . . . young criminals will no longer be allowed to thumb their noses at the law and laugh at what has become whitewashed laws with punishments that have somehow become turned around to protect the ``bad boys'' more than the public.
Crime is a bad thing and we have to start showing our kids that we love them enough to punish them until they learn right from wrong. How long will this process take? Ask Judge Saxton - maybe until the cows come home.
Christie L. Lee
May 20 by CNB