this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2024
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Lefty Memes
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You have completely changed the subject. You and the other user said he probably did this on purpose to get food and shelter.
I firmly believe he did. Otherwise he would have stolen more than $100 and wouldn't have turned himself in. A lot of homeless folks at shelters will commit petty theft and turn themselves in if their time is up or if there are no beds left, especially during extreme heat in places like Texas and Louisiana with poor social safety nets.
You're the one that brought up the question of wrongful imprisonment so I spoke to that. I'm sorry if I wasn't clear enough for you, I was trying to speak to your specific concern.
Yes, he was wrongfully imprisoned no matter the motive. $100 ain't worth that much time, or, honestly, any real time. He was likely looking for a few days to a few weeks of three squares and a cot. Instead he's sitting in the hoosegow for a decade with time off for good behavior which will make it that much harder for him to get out of his situation and, on top of the gross injustice by people who paint themselves as fiscal conservatives, it'll cost more than a properly functioning social safety net would have cost to get him housed, fed and back to being part of society where he could be comfortable.
I have a lot of feelings about this that are hard for me to articulate. There are a lot of subjects to cover here. It starts with how shitty we treat the homeless, moves to what some of the homeless have to do just to survive, and ends with how we're throwing away money just to keep someone down for the rest of their damn life.
It’s possible =/= it happened that way. You have no evidence this was a choice. The reasonable assumption is he did not expect 15 years for $100
They covered him not expecting 15 years.
I don't think anyone expects 15 years over an unarmed robbery of $100 because it's completely disproportionate.
This is going to sound like I'm being shitty, but I promise this question is genuine because I really feel like I'm missing something.
Is your issue the original language I used when making the assumption about his motive?
It’s not just the language, it’s assuming his motive period.
I don’t think you sound shitty I’m just a little surprised you two are being so presumptuous.
Fair enough. Then the best thing for us to do is part ways here.
I do believe that's his motivation because I've seen it happen a lot back when I was working in shelters and because he could have gotten more than a hundred bucks if he was robbing a bank if his motivation was money.
However, if you don't think I should be assuming anyone's motivation that's a perfectly reasonable stance. It won't stop me, but I get where you're coming from and I'm glad we talked it out so I could understand.
I promise you this man did not steal $100 to get 15 years in prison on purpose. I appreciate your polite demeanor but it also feels like you’re playing nice while not considering what I’m saying.
Have a good one man.
That may be where our disconnect is. I think he did it to get a couple of days to a couple of weeks. I absolutely do not believe he did it to get 15 years.
I promise that it's not that I'm not considering it, it's that I still feel like I'm missing something. I'm a pretty oblivious guy and that happens sometimes. I don't think you're coming at me with ill intent and I get the feeling that you and I would agree on a whole lot of shit, just not the minutiae here. I don't want to burn a good discussion bridge with someone that seems like a good actor and considerate person.
You have a good one as well, and I genuinely hope we get to have more discussions.