Wowie wow wowzers, what's going on here? Are we living in "The Twilight Zone" and nobody told me? No, really -- what is going on here? The legal system has been hit with the stupid stick one too many times and is a complete vegetable by now.
The system has simply been striking out.
Our legal system is up to the plate, and the first pitch is the case of Donald Ray Wallace, who had been on death row for 23 years and in prison for 25. Wallace was executed last week for the January 1980 murders of Patrick Gilligan, his wife, Thersea, and their children, four-year-old Gregory and five-year-old Lisa.
Wallace bound and shot the family members after they came home unexpectedly while he was burglarizing their Evansville home. This man sat on death row for 23 years -- that's longer than most of you reading have been alive. Twenty-three years this man sat around while tax money was being used to pay for his jailing expenses.
That's ridiculous. If a person is sentenced to death, then that death should occur within two years or fewer -- no exceptions. Death penalty laws definitely need a overhaul.
Swing and a miss for the legal system, strike one. Next pitch, the case of Muncie's own Damien Sanders.
While many students were too intoxicated over Spring Break to notice, Sanders was sentenced to 65 years in prison for the 2004 murder of Karl Harford, along with 20 years for armed robbery. He will spend the next 85 years in jail, a place he belongs and the place he should have been in a long time ago.
Sanders has been in so much trouble with Johnny Law, even Courtney Love would grimace at his track record. You name it, he's had a record of it: Battery, resisting law enforcement, receiving stolen property, burglary, auto theft, possession of marijuana and the big one, carrying a handgun without a license, all according to the Indianapolis Star.
This menace to society should have been behind bars long before he murdered anyone.
Swing and a miss, strike two. The next pitch is Ball State's infamous police officer, Robert Duplain.
Many ears around campus, including my own, perked up when they heard this name in the news again recently. I hoped he had donated a kidney to charity or something because he didn't need any more bad press. However, such was not the case.
Duplain stated he was looking at a suspicious person when he ran a stop sign and plowed into a vehicle driven by a Ball State student. BSU Police Chief Gene Burton said he will not be penalized for it.
No penalty? Someone just needs to kick me in the face now so we can get it over with.
Even after past discretions with Duplain, Burton will not punish him for his recent wrongdoing. Some students have expressed sympathy for Duplain, arguing that it's not his fault.
Listen, there are only three things in this world I feel sorry for: victims of crimes, people with diseases and residents of Detroit. They can't help what's happened to them; Duplain could have prevented what happened.
It's time that he be held accountable for his actions. Whether it is the loss of his job or a probation, something should be done.
Another swing and miss, strike three for two weeks of legal stupidity. My head hurts, so wake me up when this episode of "The Twilight Zone" is over and "Leave it to Beaver" comes on.
Those seemed liked simpler times.
Write to Ryan at rjsmith@bsu.edu
Visit www.bsu.edu/web/rjsmith
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