FeedArdis in a unique position stand up for tougher sentences
August 29, 2006 in The Wire
Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis is using his position to criticize weak sentences given out to violent criminals, including the sentence of probation given to a 16-year-old who shotgun at a occupied automobile:
Anthony C. Parker of 2825 W. Fremont St. was given four years of probation by Peoria County Circuit Judge Scott Shore for aggravated discharge of a firearm, a charge that normally carries a 15-year maximum prison sentence. The State’s Attorney’s Office asked for six years - the maximum under a plea agreement reached in June.
Parker’s attorney argued the boy was a hard-working kid who made a terrible mistake. But the prosecutor disagreed, saying there is “no excuse for driving around in a car and shooting a gun out a window.”
Ardis echoes that.
“I don’t know what the judge saw in that kid. What I see is a 16-year-old driving through town firing a gun in broad daylight,” Ardis said.
My two cents: In an earlier post, someone said the rise in violent crime post election is proof that elected officials have no effect one way or another. I disagree. I simply cannot accept that crime and violence is a force of nature, beyond our control, like earthquakes or hurricanes.
I’m not going to debate the causes of crime in this post. But I will state that lack of consequences for criminal behavior causes MORE crime. It demoralizes the police, prosecutors, victims and law abiding citizens. It deepens the feeling within the community that crime is hopeless, and that decent people have no friends in high places.
And that is why I am cheered to read Mayor Ardis make a point to express his outrage over this specific case. Do not underestimate the power of the bully pulpit to fight crime. I’m not holding my breath, but I think that the state’s attorney’s office is starting to get it. Now, we need to put the heat on lenient judges who think their job is to rehabilitate criminals.
I’m hoping to see more pronouncements like this one when the need arises.
August 29th, 2006 at 8:02 am
Bring a loaded gun to school- get 5 years.
Fire a gun (and miss)- get probation.
August 29th, 2006 at 8:36 am
The State’s Attorney’s Office asked for six years – the maximum under a plea agreement. suprise, suprise, another plea agreement gone bad. why doesnt this make sense? one sentance states that the charge was a 15 year maximum, then says its a six year maximum. could it be that the states attorneys office asked for a maximum of a lesser charge that probation was a possibility? ask lyons to comment on the whole story please…..
August 29th, 2006 at 8:50 am
Ask and ye shall not receive…
August 29th, 2006 at 8:55 am
PeoriaIllinoisan: “With credit for 220 days already served and day for day ‘good-time’ credit, Gregory should get out of prison in about two years.” He’ll be back on the streets soon.
August 29th, 2006 at 9:09 am
Why can’t we take the fight to the criminals? They(COP, Mayor) say they know who the criminals are and who the folks are that cause a mojority of the problems(Gangs, Drugs, etc.)…..why can’t the sity, county, and state sanction an offensive on crime. I guarentee, that if we make Peoria a less than desireable place to commit these crimes and sustain that type of lifestyle, the crime will diminish. Of course the first thing we need to do is get the real criminals off the streets…and keep them locked up. In 90% of cases, once a criminal, always a criminal. I am just waiting for “Rod Daley” to say Peoria is a perfect example of why we need to keep guns out of the hands of the regular citizenry.
August 29th, 2006 at 9:16 am
I saw that too. 5 years makes for a better headline, though.
Maybe 5 years should actually mean 5 years. Only if you’re a troublemaker do you serve all 5 years. How about if you’re troublesome, they tack on more years instead of subtracting for ‘good time’?
I guess we’d have to build more jails, though.
August 29th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
PI,
They do, in fact, add time for contraband, assault, escape attempts, etc. It’s treated as another charge.
August 29th, 2006 at 12:29 pm
For those of you who are outraged at our local judge, read this about the shoe bomber’s judge…
Prior to sentencing, the Judge asked the defendant if he had anything to say.
His response: After admitting his guilt to the court for the record, Reid also admitted his “allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah,” defiantly stated “I think I will not apologize for my actions,” and told the court “I am at war with your country.”
Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below:
January 30, 2003, United States vs. Reid. Judge Young:
“Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you.
On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts 2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutive with the other. That’s 80 years. On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years consecutive to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000 for the aggregate fine of $2 million. The Court accepts the government’s recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines. The Court imposes upon you the $800 special assessment.
The Court imposes upon you five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need go no further. This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence.
Let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of you or any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is all too much war talk here and I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court, we deal with individuals as individuals and care for individuals as individuals. As human beings, we reach out for justice.
You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature. Whether it is the officers of government who do it or your attorney who does it, or if you think you are a soldier. You are not—– you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not meet with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.
So war talk is way out of line in this court. You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You’re no warrior. I’ve know warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal that is guilty of multiple attempted murders. In a very real sense, State Trooper Santiago had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and where the TV crews were, and he said: “You’re no big deal.”
You are no big deal.
What your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have as honestly as I know how tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today?
I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty and admit you are guilty of doing. And I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you, but as I search this entire record, it comes as close to understanding as I know.
It seems to me you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very wind carries freedom. It carries it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom. So that everyone can see, truly see, that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is for freedom’s sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf and have filed appeals, will go on in their representation of you before other judges.
We Americans are all about freedom. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties. Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bare any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. Day after tomorrow, it will be forgotten, but this, however, will long endure. Here in this courtroom and courtrooms all across America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done. The very President of the United States through his officers come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice.
See that flag, Mr. Reid? That’s the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag stands for freedom. And it always s will.
Mr. Custody Officer. Stand him down.
August 29th, 2006 at 5:00 pm
Study after study after study has shown that stiffer penalties are not the end-all-be-all for crime prevention. Sure, they help a bit. But look at the “War on Drugs” Reagan started. Since then, all sorts of really stiff penalties have been enacted for people who are caught with drugs, use drugs or sell drugs. But where are we now? Meth labs are all over the midwest, people still smoke pot, crack, shoot up, etc. etc. Some war on drugs. Nothing has gotten any better. And plenty of people we all know, average folks, did some jail time for having a joint at a rock concert. But funny, how there are still folks around dealing nasty shit and creating more junkies.
Lock em up and throw away the key is not the answer. A stronger community. A community in which everyone has opportunities to succeed is the answer. After school programs and good education are the answer. But this is a problem not just for Peoria, but the entire freakin’ country. Our system is fucked.
I suppose you could call me a “throw money into social programs” liberal if you want. Go ahead, but I simply notice what has worked. Stiffer penalties and fines for crimes doesn’t stop gangs from forming. A lack of hope and opportunity does. Swedish people pay lots of taxes, a lot of which goes into social programs and education. How many problems do the Swedish have with gangs? Not even close to as many as US cities do. I was recently in Europe, and talked with a Ukranian woman about how nice Sweden and it’s economy and prosperity are, and how stuck up they are about it. People from depressed European countries (most Eastern Europe) move to Sweden because of this.
I was probably one of the few people who read this article today to think, “Wow. What a thoughtful judge, who considered this case enough to get beyond the political rhetoric. Who took enough time to notice that this was a kid who fucked up, but it’s his first time. Maybe I’ll cut him some slack.”
Yes, it’s stupid to go firing a shotgun, midday, at another moving car. And this is rather extreme. But what kind of stupid shit did you do when you were in your teens? Did you drive when you were pretty much blind drunk? I did. How is that any less dangerous than what this kid did? The potential to kill random people is exactly the same.
Ardis’ rhetoric is just that, political rhetoric. Why isn’t he yelling about improving District 150, or lamenting the state of some of our neighborhoods (pick your depressed favorite)? Crime is easy to make noise about. The difficult job of being a good leader is in truly improving your entire community.
August 29th, 2006 at 5:08 pm
That was a horrible judgement - Some 16 year old idiot shoots a gun out a car window and gets a lighter probation than someone who steals a candy bar. Thats great! Things are really improving here in good ‘ole Peoria. If this stupid kid gets picked up next week for robbing senior citizens outside a church parking lot, then he may just get 5 years probation. Thats the most ridiculous sentence I have heard all year. I am glad that Mayor Ardis also thought…hey, what the hell just happened? Is this real. That just goes to show that Ardis really does take crime seriously - now, I still want to see what happens however, voicing the concern and noticing what just happened is the first step.
But, (judge says) this was a hard working kid.??? Are you F’n kidding me?
So, he works at McDonalds at night and shoots guns out his car window during the day at strangers. Yeah, he needs a job to buy more guns.
August 29th, 2006 at 5:22 pm
Cory: “Ardis’ rhetoric is just that, political rhetoric. Why isn’t he yelling about improving District 150, or lamenting the state of some of our neighborhoods (pick your depressed favorite)? ”
Haven’t been paying attention for the last 18 months, huh?
August 30th, 2006 at 11:17 am
I didn’t say that, Billy. I made the comment about sentences getting extended for bad behavior. cgiselle said that. If someone is posting with the name cgiselle and using my email, they should stop.
September 3rd, 2006 at 9:04 am
You know, this is the first time since Ardis got elected that he has shown any life. About time. Too bad it was sooner, at this rate, his next outburst isn’t due until 2009