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"Nonviolent" Offender

By Kent Scheidegger et al.

"Documents show that a suspect in the Chicago murders of three members of Jennifer Hudson's family was arrested for drug possession in June, but state officials didn't revoke his parole," reports John O'Connor for AP. At this point, of course, William Balfour is only a suspect and has not been charged with, much less convicted of, the murders of three people, including a 7-year-old boy. So, we will not jump to the conclusion that this case illustrates that the "nonviolent offenders" that the hand-wringing crowd assures us can be safely released includes people who will commit some horrible crimes if they are released. It may very well turn out to illustrate exactly that at some point in the future, and we will keep an eye on it. Update: A later, more detailed story (at the same link) discloses that Balfour's original offense of conviction was indeed violent -- attempted murder and carjacking -- although the parole violation was drug possession...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime and Consequences on October 28, 2008 (boomark / email).