Originally published in the July 2004 issue of GunNews.
A trip to the big city
By John Boch
I try to avoid trips to Chicago. If I’m travelling, certainly for recreation, I prefer to spend my money and time in God’s Country, where the air is freer, grass greener and society safer. Reluctantly, I recently made the Chicago trip to lend support for Roderick Pritchett.
After we arrived and found parking in the charming, dirty neighborhood (it could have doubled for a dreary “Gotham City” in a Batman flick), I was struck by the intense security at the court building. Everyone except the attorneys and police officers were forced to pass through metal detectors set so sensitive that one had to be magnetically naked (except for your fly).
Unfortunately, my steel-toe boots earned me a date with a professional and courteous court security officer. I didn’t fit the profile of the average customer, so he asked me why I was there and I told him. He wished me the best.
On the way to the courtroom, I saw the county jail building. It looked as though the exterior hadn’t seen a bit of cleaning, maintenance or improvement for at least a century. It was a very ugly place, no doubt filled with ugly, violent people.
When I arrived at the courtroom, I found it unlike any other I’d ever been to. The gallery area was separated from the courtroom not by a wooden railing but by bulletproof glass an inch and a half thick. Welcome to the big city.
We struggled to hear the proceedings through a tiny, poorly-maintained speaker in the ceiling.
It was educational waiting for Pritchett’s case at this “gun court.” First came the rapist. He pleaded guilty and got probation. Next up was the armed robber who pulled two armed robberies, the first of which netted him about $10 (he did better in the second one at the donut shop… $600 there). He was a first-time violent criminal. He got probation. Next up was the shoplifter with a prior theft conviction. Not only did she get probation, but she had to complete drug treatment as well!
During Mr. Armed Robber’s sentencing hearing, some little guy with a silly hat carrying a pizza and some sandwiches walked into the court, across the courtroom and through a door behind the judge. We just looked at one another and shook our heads. We couldn’t believe it. I know any of Champaign County’s judges would likely give any Domino’s pizza guy jail time for contempt if he did that in their court while it was in session.
On our way out of the big city, we passed a store sporting multiple bullet holes. The front door had a huge hole in it that surely was created by a 12-gauge slug, creating a right-of-way at about 1200 feet per second.
It has been said that people have the amount of crime that they are willing to tolerate.
It is clear that Chicago’s residents, courts and politicians have a high tolerance for the amount of crime they are willing to live with.
If that rapist had committed his crime in southern Illinois, where all of us supposedly “backwards” and “uneducated” country-folks live, I guarantee you he wouldn’t have gotten probation… that’s if the woman he attacked hadn’t already shot him dead.
I almost (ALMOST) hate to point it out for you but if God desires to give Middle America an enema, then Chicago is where the tube would go!
I have a small hope that those South of SILLYFIELD City get the option to create a separate state known as North Kentucky (never want the word Illinois uttered there again) they do it/ Maybe Eastern Missouri or Western Indiana. I have it on good authority that Illinois is a Cree Nation word meaning “POPULATED BY MENTAL DEFICIENTS”, which pretty much covers Cook, DeKalb and the other counties in the North part of Mentally deficient Land.
“people have the amount of crime that they are willing to tolerate.”
Truer words have never been spoken.
Chicago’s not-so-fine residents seem to be have a bottomless tolerance for rampant violence.
That’s why the missus and I stay away from there.
They have little to nothing we can’t get in Indianapolis.
Sam
I am a resident north of I 80.
I came here as a kid and never left. I have a job here, deep in the system of government here.
Forgive my accidental posting..
The dirty secret is this.. There is NO MONEY.
No money for the jails
No money for the prisons
Little money for treatment of addicts (which fuels demand for drugs, adding to the problem)
There are indeed some good people on the inside who are doing their best to help those inmates who want help. Its not enough, for those who want to improve their situation.
Honestly, many are just fine sleeping on moms couch, getting high, doing BS crimes and going in and out of jail over and over. It’s how they live.
And all the while the teachers unions suck up as much cash as possible and turn out the poorest quality students.
The taxes and red tape drive business and jobs out of the city to places where they feel welcome.
There is at the least unwritten advice to judges to not sentence people to jail as there is no money to house these people.
Years ago, when the county was routinely sued for overcrowding by the leftists, prisoners slept on mattresses on the floor and everyone got upset.
Why is there NO LONGER OVERCROWDING IN THE JAILS??
Because there are multiple ‘programs’ to keep people OUT OF JAIL.
And while some work, and are appropriate for some, others have no business being outside of a locked cell.
The lawyers who successfully sued the jail for overcrowding are directly responsible for more dirtbags being on the street. They didnt get better because some lawyer got rich.
Your safety is being wagered against the behavior of a bunch of felons. The good news is that they usually abuse one another first.
The local “boot camp” for young offenders here in Southern Illinois has been shut down. Something that might straighten out some offenders that may likely go on to do worse crimes.