Howard County Justice

On page twelve of this week's Columbia Flier:

Bartender who stole from grill gets jail time.

The story details the crime committed at the Stanford Grill by Scott Lawrence Lebow of Sykesville, who used gift cards to steal $54,000.00 in March, 2015. Yes, he did receive jail time. Fifteen days.

Okay, it's more complicated than that. He was sentenced to five years with all but fifteen days suspended. He will be on probation for five years. He will have a criminal record, of course. But fifteen days?

Some clues to the sentence maybe in the final paragraph. Mr. Lebow has been ordered to attend weekly Gambler's Anonymous meetings and is also required to make restitution. So that begins to tell a story about the background of this crime.

I still feel that fifteen days is rather light for a theft of more than $50,000.00. This entailed 900 individual theft transactions over a period of thirty weeks. In a week where the news is filled with stories of disproportionate police stops, repetitive charges, burdening fines, and more than questionable treatment received by African American citizens, I must admit that the first thing I wondered was Mr. Lebow's race.

I have no reason to doubt Howard County justice. It may be a very good thing that someone is extending to this defendant the benefit of the doubt. I do wonder if the legal system as a whole works better for some than for others

What do you think?