California has a crime problem, like many states, but unlike those other states, it seems to actually enjoy it. I'm sure the voters don't, but the powers that be must. Why else would they keep enacting policies designed to make it worse?
From decriminalizing things like shoplifting to cashless bail, they keep making it easy for crooks, but now it's worse.
It's not just people robbing their local drug store blind anymore. Now, the worst of the worst are basically walking free because of a law most people didn't even know was a thing in the state.
A California law meant to help people with mental illness avoid prison is now letting violent criminals and repeat offenders walk free, Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper warned, calling it a "terrible" policy that’s being "abused" by "career criminals."
Cooper told Fox News Digital that "terrible laws" have replaced accountability with "excuses."
"There’s room for diversion somewhere, especially someone that has an addiction problem," Cooper explained. "But what’s happened is they open the gates wide. So right now everyone’s taking advantage of it. A lot of criminals are. They’re really abusing the system, and that’s the unfortunate part about it."
In a post shared last week on the department’s official Facebook page, Cooper criticized state diversion policies, writing that "career criminals [are] using mental health as a shield to avoid consequences."California’s mental health diversion law, passed in 2018 under AB 1810 and SB 215, gives defendants the ability to pause their criminal cases and enter a court-approved treatment program instead of going to jail.
If they complete treatment successfully, their charges are dismissed and their record is wiped clean, Cooper explained.
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Now, not everyone can take advantage of this. Murder and sex crimes that would require registration, such as child molestation, are two examples. There are also conditions like pedophilia that make one exempt. Other forms of child abuse or other mental health conditions, however, are a different matter entirely.
One example given is a three-year-old boy who was force-fed the drug lithium and overdosed. His abusers took advantage of this and avoided the child abuse charges.
Look, I get the intent with a law like this. The idea of treating the underlying causes of someone's criminal actions makes a lot of sense, but only to a point. If people can take advantage of the law to avoid prison for despicable crimes like child abuse, including some trying to do so over crimes that involved beating a child to death.
It's not right.
Yes, some people are broken inside and really need treatment more than prison, but laws like this take this basic idea and leave it open to the worst kinds of people to take advantage of it. Do you really think that someone who beats their children or engages in other disgusting behavior should get a pass just because they say they're sick in some way? I mean, yeah, well people don't beat children. They don't hurt kids at all.
On the other hand, though, do we really want people running around claiming that they're mentally unwell just to get out of whatever crime they committed? All it does is put them back on the streets, and far too many of them know how to play the game and look like they've got an issue causing their behavior. Someone will tell them what to do or say, I'm sure, and they'll play the system.
I'm sorry, but some people need punishment regardless of why they did something. If they want treatment, then let them get it in prison. Then, if you want to wipe the slate clean, wait until they've shown that they're not going to keep on committing crimes after their time is over.
Otherwise, you're just creating a get out of jail free card.
Parker Brothers would be so proud.
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