[*BCM*] Cyclist foils heist, Boston Phoenix 9/28

[John Hays]

    While I strongly oppose all laws against the consensual growth, 
manufacture, distribution, possession and use of drugs of all kinds, and 
I fully agree that drug laws ruin lives, and that drug laws also 
necessarily increase the price of drugs, which can lead marginal drug 
users to theft -- all of that is COMPLETELY BESIDES THE POINT, absent 
further evidence, because there's currently no evidence that any of that 
applies to this asshole. I strongly disagree that most theft in the city 
is fueled by drug addiction, simply because there's far, far more 
property theft in the city than drug addicts can account for. As someone 
who lives in Allston, it's abundantly clear to me that drug addiction is 
rarely the underlying cause of property theft. College students, and 
young people in their 20s generally, are inveterate thieves, and you 
have lots of petty theft wherever large numbers of them congregate. They 
are also rarely drug addicts.

    Some people have minimized the severity of crime by scoffing at the 
importance of 'property' (conveniently forgetting the assault). While I 
think this is misguided for several reasons, I would just point out that 
the 'things' we legitimately acquire are the result of the product of 
hours of our own labor. If your $300 bike is stolen, and you worked at 
$10/hr job to raise the money to buy it, then you've lost more than a 
physical thing -- you've lost the 30+ hours of your own time that you 
invested into one pursuit over another, perhaps more enjoyable pursuit, 
in order to acquire it. That is, I think, no small crime.

    I have serious objections to the criminal 'justice' system, as well 
as the justice of deliberately inflicting unpleasantness onto people as 
retribution for a crime (as opposed to say, a framework designed around 
restitution to victims); but what I have no doubt about is that this 
bicycle thief has committed a grievous wrong, and I'm not going to 
lament his punishment too much.

- John



Paul Centro wrote:
> It might have been interesting if someone had spoken to James Johnson, 
> the alleged perp, for his side of the story.  While I do not know his 
> circumstances, let me suggest an alternative read for stories such as 
> this:
>  
> -Drug addict in the throes of addiction needs money for a fix.  John 
> Doe of Boston who has been unable to find steady employment due to 
> arrests in his youth for minor offenses finds himself in increasingly 
> desperate circumstances.  What started out as recreational use of 
> cocaine has become a $50 a day methamphetamine addiction.  "I'd like 
> to kick, but I cannot afford treatment and all of the subsidized slots 
> are filled," says Mr. Doe.
>  
> "I'm really sorry about the bike, and you have to understand how 
> desperate I am, I'm looking at 2 years in jail due to prior 
> convictions.  Running is the only choice I have right now."
>  
> Is this so far fetched?  I would argue that most of the property crime 
> in this city is perpetrated for just such reasons.  Can we feel good 
> that this person was caught?  What's to become of him?  Jail at 40k+ a 
> year with no rehab or job training at worst, unable to work because of 
> a CORI that will follow him for the rest of his life and vote 
> dis-enfranchisement at best is what it looks like to me.  All this for 
> a bike?  I see no justice here.
>  
> Make no mistake, we pay for folks to use drugs and crime is the method 
> of payment.  Drug laws have a human cost and I think it's time for a 
> little empathy in place of punishment.  I am disappointed that someone 
> involved with Critical Mass is so stoked at the result.  If these 
> folks are unable to see beneath the surface of things, who is?
>  
> Peter McNeff,
> Jamaica Plain    
>  
>  
>
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