Unjust justice.A former "Exercising the Right" column, entitled "Scrappy scrap·py 1 adj. scrap·pi·er, scrap·pi·est Composed of scraps; fragmentary: scrappy evidence. scrap Old Soldier" (January 24 issue), told about an 87-year-old ex-soldier from Macomb, Illinois Macomb is a city located in McDonough County, Illinois founded in 1831. It is situated in western Illinois southwest of Galesburg at 40°27'38" North, 90°40'27" West (40.460501, -90.674048).GR1 As of 2000, the city had a population of 18,558. , named Leonard Gamage, who physically fought a 20-year-old home intruder An attacker that gains, or tries to gain, unauthorized access to a system. See attacker, intrusion and IDS. for 45 minutes before reaching a rifle and shooting the intruder in the foot. Gamage held the young man at gunpoint until police took him into custody. At the time, the police confiscated con·fis·cate tr.v. con·fis·cat·ed, con·fis·cat·ing, con·fis·cates 1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury. 2. To seize by or as if by authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. adj. Gamage's two rifles--family heirlooms and, as it turned out, indispensable for self-defense--because he didn't have a permit to keep them in his house. A follow-up report on this incident in the Macomb Journal highlights the injustice in the case even further. The attacker, James VanderVeen, was handed a misdemeanor by the judge and "sentenced to 12 months court supervision and fined $100 plus court costs court costs n. fees for expenses that the courts pass on to attorneys, who then pass them on to their clients or, in some kinds of cases, to the losing party. . If VanderVeen successfully serves the year of court supervision, the misdemeanor will be wiped from his record." Gamage is angry about the outcome, telling the Journal, "I'm shocked. This guy invaded my home. I am sure he would have killed me if he could.... I don't see any justice in this. I don't think a case like this will discourage anyone from breaking into houses and robbing people." |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion