MOM SAYS JUSTICE SHOULD BE ADMINISTERED EQUALLY

Dear Editor:

I am really confused about our justice system today. I thought a law was
supposed to be the same for everyone, not changed around for certain people.

My son served a year in prison for a crime he committed, and upon his
release was put on four years of probation. It was his first time ever
being in serious trouble with the law.

He has a serious drug problem, which in his own way is crying out for help.
He recently got locked up for violation of his probation because he missed
reporting to his probation officer for two months, which he was scared to
do because he knew he would test dirty and probably be sent back to prison
for the four years he has on paper. And, of course, that's exactly what
happened.

His probation was revoked, and they are sending him back. Everyone knows
you can get more drugs in prison than here on our streets. He is a
first-time offender and desperately needs to be in a secured rehab center
for help, not put back in prison.

I know there are people sitting in the county jail right now with a
criminal record a mile long, who have tested dirty three or four times with
their probation officers and are not being sent back to prison but are
waiting on a bed in rehab. I don't see the fairness in that at all.

All I am asking is for the law to give my son the same chance in life and
get him the help he really needs. He is basically a good person who got
mixed up with drugs, which has led him in the path he is on. He is crying
out for someone to help him, not to continue punishing him for one wrongdoing.

Just give him the same consideration that you are giving the repeat
offenders, who probably don't appreciate it - the same chance to get help
that he really wants so he can make a better life for himself and his children.

Sue Stanley, Clarksdale