Convicted arsonist helped battle fire - Los Angeles Times
Excerpt: "Although there is nothing in the terms of Robles' parole to keep him from working as a volunteer firefighter, he has to notify his parole officer when he takes a job. He has been returned to prison for violating that rule, officials said."
In my opinion, with California's prisons nearly double capacity, sending this man back to prison for a violation like this is quite honestly disgusting. And can volunteering really be called a "job"? Don't you have to get paid for a "job"? I'd like to ask the people responsible if they honestly believe that our streets are any safer having violated this man. What a travesty of justice.
I see this as further evidence of how California's draconian legal system drags people - mentally ill or not - back to prison for minor, petty nonsense. This is a system which has been found to violate the eighth amendment to the constitution for good reason. It's exactly this type of ludicrous standard behavior that proves the court was right.
God bless Robert Sillen (federal receiver who is cleaning up California's prison system's medical and mental health care).
Posted by kovu at November 18, 2007 3:14 PM