THEY CALL THIS JUSTICE?

Pardon us if we don't understand this kind of justice: How does a low-lifer
caught with a half a pound of cocaine (street value of $25,000 or so), and
with a prior conviction for possessing coke and another for aggravated
assault, get off with a 20-year probation sentence? Judge J. Carlisle
Overstreet could have sent Rodricgus F. Maxwell to a 30-year prison party.
The assistant district attorney only asked for a 10-year term.

Yet this coke dealer is out on the street with a hand slap.

Overstreet is the same judge who scored noticeably low in the sentencing of
rapists, according to research done by Chronicle news reporter Sandy Hodson
in a series that ran earlier this week.

Overstreet gives fewer rapists prison sentences and lets a greater
percentage of them off on probation or reduces their crimes to misdemeanors
than any other judge - and we're not talking just a few percentage points,
either. He's way off the chart compared to other judges.

Maybe Judge Overstreet wouldn't mind if these creeps moved next door to
him. However, coke peddlers and rapists aren't the kind of people most of
us want lurking around our neighborhoods.