Crime and punishment in “progressive” times

This is one of those posts whose main objective is therapy for yours truly. When I read about current events, and become full of disgust, venting my spleen on these pages is sometimes all I can do.

I present to you exhibit A: A man who, acting according to his conscience, lashed out against the LGBT power structure. He infringed upon the property rights of others, and for that he deserves some sort of punishment… but 16 years?! From USAToday:

DES MOINES, Iowa – An Iowa man was sentenced to about 16 years in prison after he set fire to a church LGBTQ flag in June.

Adolpho Martinez, 30, of Ames last month was found guilty of a hate crime – a class “D” felony – third-degree harassment and reckless use of fire. Police said he stole a pride banner hanging at Ames United Church of Christ and burned it early June 11 outside the Dangerous Curves Gentleman’s Club…

Story County Attorney Jessica Reynolds said hate crime charges were added because Martinez is suspected of criminal mischief against someone’s property because of “what it represents as far as sexual orientation.”

How many times have we read about Antifa physically attacking conservatives, or “social justice warriors” destroying the property of Trump supporters – and they receive, at most, a slap on the wrist. Perhaps Trump supporters should claim that they support him because he’s sexy. That way, any attack on them could be considered a “hate crime.” Maybe white-advocates should claim that our support of whites is based on our sexual attraction to them. That way, attacks on us would be “hate crimes.” We could be the “W” in LGBTQW. It’s a sexual orientation, and attacks against us will not be tolerated.

Any way you look at it, all decent people should be outraged that a man may spend 16 years in prison for burning a rainbow flag. Murderers get more lenient sentences.

And that brings me to exhibit B: The man who murdered a Jewish woman in Paris, while shouting about demons and Allah, will face NO PUNISHMENT. From the Jewish Refugees blog:

The French-Jewish community is reeling at the news that the killer of Sarah Halimi, who was tortured and thrown out of the window in 2017, will not face trial. Ben Cohen in The Algemeiner reports:
Although it was expected, the court’s decision nonetheless angered the French Jewish community — whose leaders have spent much of this year countering the claim of a court-appointed psychiatrist that Traore’s heavy ingestion of cannabis temporarily wiped out his awareness and his judgement…

The Times of Israel reports:

A man accused of murdering his Jewish neighbor in Paris will stand not trial after a French court ruled Thursday he could not be held responsible for the killing because he was in a psychotic state from smoking marijuana.

Kobili Traore is alleged to have beaten his neighbor, 66-year-old Sarah Halimi, to death in 2017 while calling her a demon and shouting about Allah, before throwing her body from the window of her third-story apartment.

The appeals court, whose decision Thursday ended Traore’s detention, ordered he be hospitalized or made to attend a drug rehabilitation program. It also ordered security measures be put in place for 20 years, including a ban on him from contacting the victim’s relatives or returning to the crime scene.

I was under the impression that marijuana does NOT cause people to become violent. In any case, now you know what to do if you want to murder somebody in France: Smoke some marijuana first.

We shouldn’t be surprised if the above “security measures” turn out to be ineffective, and Traore kills again.

It’s the “progressive” way, and it’s emblematic of the depths to which we have sunk – that murderers get a second chance, but not those who burn an LGBTQ flag.*

* Yes, I’m aware that the US, and France, have two different legal systems, but there are plenty of examples of France meting out harsh punishments for “hate speech,” and the US being too lenient with murderers.