Here’s a question: Do we still have a shred of integrity in the justice system? It seems like every week — heck, almost every single day — we hear another story about how criminals are given free passes for their egregious transgressions, while others are targeted simply for having different political viewpoints.
Take the case of 26-year-old Carlee Russell, for example. Apparently, you can plead guilty to your crimes, and all you have to do is claim you were stressed out and they’ll let you go.
According to the New York Post:
The 26-year-old nursing student apologized for falsely reporting seeing a baby crawling alongside an Alabama highway just minutes before she seemingly vanished, only to turn up two days later without explanation.[…]
Russell pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charges of false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident.
Although the Jefferson County judge acknowledged that Russell’s actions set off a nationwide panic, he said it would be a waste of government resources to put her behind bars because she does not pose a threat to the community.
Instead, she was sentenced to one-year probation, community service, and mental health counseling and ordered to pay $17,974.88 in restitution to the city of Hoover.
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To be fair, at least there were some repercussions for her actions. My problem with this comes in when you take into account that hoaxes like these, and hoaxes in general, happen way more often than one might realize.
Sure, actor and activist Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail, which an appellate court upheld following an appeal by Smollett’s attorneys. But, at this point, it’s almost fashionable to perpetrate a hoax on others and authorities, because they know that a slap on the wrist is the worst punishment they’ll receive.
“I made a grave mistake while trying to fight through various emotional issues and stress,” Russell told the court.
Listen, I understand that people go through all sorts of mental anguish from time to time. No one is immune to that. But that doesn’t excuse actions, which are always a choice, that alarms family, friends, authorities, local communities and sometimes an entire nation.
For Court TV's coverage of Russell's sentencing, watch below:
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The leftist media are shamelessly corrupt.
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