Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Warped justice ruins yet another man's life

Another young man guilty of committing serious offenses appears before Circuit Judge Ric Howard fully expecting to pay for his actions but also, naively, believing that he will be treated fairly. Instead, he receives a punishment that meets the basic rules for a legal sentence but fails the test for true justice.

In an all-too-familiar scenario last week in the Citrus County courthouse, Howard - who lives in Hernando County and is elected by voters of the five-county 5th Judicial Circuit - again imposed a cruel punishment on a young man who was foolish enough, or poorly advised, to put himself at the mercy of a judge who has demonstrated that that trait is in short supply.

Jason Aron Hill of Beverly Hills admitted that he had sex several times with his girlfriend. This became a crime because Hall is 19, an adult, and the girl is 15, a minor. Also, after smoking marijuana and being bored, the two set paper towels on fire and nearly burned to the ground a gazebo belonging to the Beverly Hills Recreation Association.

Make no mistake, these are serious offenses. Hall, a high school dropout, should have known better than to have sex, even consensual, with a 15-year-old. Plus, he violated his pretrial release orders to stay away from her. And he initially denied to authorities that the two had been intimate.

Hall was also 20 minutes late to his court appearance, which incensed the judge.

The Jan. 25 fire caused about $25,000 in damage. The group's insurance rates doubled as a result, putting the association in such dire financial straits that four part-time workers had to be laid off.

Clearly, the association deserved to be made whole again financially, and Howard ordered Hall to pay restitution. The judge admitted it was unlikely that Hall, a fast food worker, would ever be able to come up with that kind of money. Then he made certain that Hall would never be able to repay that debt by sending him to prison.

Hall, who had no prior criminal offenses cited at his court appearance, certainly deserves punishment for his irresponsible acts. Howard could have ordered probation with the requirement that he get counseling for his behavioral problems and that he become a virtual indentured servant to the Beverly Hills Recreation Association, working off his restitution through several hundred hours of community service.

Such a sentence could have resulted in turning around the life of a young man whose parents told the court that he was irresponsible and immature. But Howard told the audience that he views the primary mission of the justice system as punishing, not helping, people.

With that in mind, Howard sent Hall to prison for the next 10 years, accomplishing his goal of hurting Hall. But he also punished the taxpayers, who will pay to keep Hall behind bars.

Hall joins the growing ranks of victims of outrageous sentences that Howard has meted out in recent years, a list topped by the notorious cases of Adam Bollenback and William Thornton IV.

Bollenback, a 17-year-old with mental problems, is serving 10 years in prison for stealing a six-pack of beer.

Thornton was the driver of a car that ran a stop sign and was struck by a vehicle with an impaired driver, who, along with a passenger, was killed in the crash. Three state agencies recommended light sentences; Howard gave him 30 years in prison.

These cases have certain elements in common. Each involves young men, a segment of the population that even an appellate court judge has noted that Howard has trouble dealing with. The offenses committed were serious, but there have been extenuating circumstances that the judge chose to overlook, opting instead to view the cases in their harshest light. And in each instance, the judge imposed unduly harsh sentences unabashedly aimed at destroying the young person standing before him.

Howard was widely criticized for both the Bollenback and the Thornton sentences, but the judge has chosen to ignore his detractors and to follow his own philosophy of justice when imposing sentences.

The question then becomes: Is this the sort of justice that residents of the 5th Judicial Circuit want? In most ways, this region is conservative and law-abiding. But do these sentences truly reflect this area's values? If so, then Howard is fulfilling his duty as an elected arbiter of the justice system. If not, residents must send him the message that he is out of step with their wishes and expectations.

[Last modified December 4, 2006, 01:25:18]