TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE

Have we returned to the days of the Wild West? I read recently of yet
another person (Gregory Mark Nichol) receiving a small punishment for the
senseless slaying of another human being, just as in the case of Dustin Camp
and other people I've read about in the Globe-News docket report.

It seems you are free to slay others with impunity here in Amarillo as long
as you are not carrying drugs.

Why do I say this? Because the same docket that reports the punishments for
killers also reports the punishment for those who are caught with drugs. It
is not uncommon to see a person receive seven to 20 years' prison time for
being in the possession of drugs, but the person who kills another receives
either a short prison sentence or probation.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought one of the reasons we were waging
this war on drugs was to reduce a greater evil: violent crime. Yet those who
commit the crime that might lead to a more serious offense receive a harsher
punishment than those who actually commit the violent crime.

I have a strong suspicion that if Dustin Camp or Gregory Nichol had been in
the possession of a controlled substance at the time of their senseless
killing of another individual, they would have received much stronger
sentences from the jurors of Amarillo. This strikes me as nothing short of
confused thinking and irresponsible decision-making.

Maybe that is why the juries give them such lenient verdicts - they identify
with one of their own!

Mitch Hodge
Amarillo