Nurse Free after Giving Partner ‘Potentially Lethal’ Insulin Dose
Maybe it's all Nixon's fault.
Back in Watergate days, I had a good friend who was a singer/songwriter and typically impecunious. When Nixon resigned rather than being prosecuted for his role in numerous crimes, my friend said "If I ever get busted for pot, I'll just tell 'em, 'I'll quit being a folk singer, isn't that punishment enough?'"
The idea that, if you commit a crime, you can just quit your job as "punishment" for the offense has, ever since Nixon struck me as one of the more blatant aspects of our elite system of justice. Back in the 70s some people actually pretended that Nixon's resignation from the presidency somehow obviated the criminal law that applies to the rest of us. I guess it served a vital pedagogic function - "now class, repeat after me, 'one set of laws for elites and another set for commoners.'" It's a lesson that needs repeating; otherwise we might forget and start thinking the law applies equally to all.
With that in mind, this article should further instruct us (Adelaide Now, 3/19/09). In it an Australian judge sentenced a nurse, Rosalie Carol Porter (pictured), to 20 months probation for what looks to me like at least one attempt to murder her live-in boyfriend. She drugged him three times with a sedative and once with a potentially lethal dose of insulin. In explaining the insignificance of the sentence, Judge Sidney Tillmouth said Porter "had already suffered significant punishment by losing her job."
Also, she might have been depressed. Judge Tillmouth explained that Porter needs treatment instead of prison. I wonder how many people who commit serious crimes of the sort here, have equally serious emotional/psychological issues contributing to their unlawful behavior. My guess is most of them do. So why is it that here the judge seems to think that he's faced with a choice of prison or treatment? If those were really the only alternatives, there'd be very few people behind bars.
Some people's punishment consists of losing their jobs; others do long stretches in the penitentiary. It's always instructive to notice which is which.
Rosalie Carol Porter does not hold high public office; she's probably not wealthy or powerful. She's just a nurse. But when it comes to sentencing for crime, she has one attribute that places her in the same elite category - she's a woman.
Thanks to Dave for the heads-up.
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