Wednesday, May 11, 2005
What should be done with Jerry Hobbs
Jerry Hobbs is the rage-filled, domestic-abusing career criminal who killed his 8-year-old daughter and her 9-year-old friend, with scarcely enough provocation for even a spanking. He has apparently given a confession (saying that the 9-year-old pulled a knife), and I can't imagine a jury will acquit him of such a heinous crime. I sincerely hope that the Lake County, Ill., D.A. doesn't pursue the death penalty. No, I'd like Hobbs to return to jail (yet again), this time for the rest of life, and have to contend with the most violent men in Illinois. You know—the sort of men who don't take kindly to anyone who murders sweet little girls. With a little luck, even the white supremacist prisoners will turn their backs on Hobbs. Apparently he hasn't learned enough about being victimized during his previous incarcerations—this time should do the trick.
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6 comments:
he lives near me ...
Emma, I'm not in xanga so I can't leave you a comment over there. But I read your story and hope you stop back here to read this:
You're a brave young woman, a survivor, and a wonderful writer. Keep spreading the word to help raise awareness. A male relative of mine was sexually abused by a 12-year-old neighbor boy when he was only 6. It went on for a year before he finally told his mother; fortunately she believed him and got the police involved. I wish you'd had someone looking out for you when you were just a child.
I hope you find peace and healing. And if you learn to express anger, I assure you it's not a bad thing. You don't have to let your anger eat you alive, but it's okay to be angry. You've been hurt and overlooked, and it wasn't fair to you. Hang in there, and keep writing.
Well, I agree the guy is scum but I can't go along with the "I hope he gets locked up and tortured by other criminals" thing, on the grounds that prison rape and violence in prisons is seriously fucked up.
Dr. B, I do understand your point. But the facts that have come out about this case provoke a less-than-reasonable response. The guy was mad at his little girl for breaking curfew (and right, she's gonna listen to her dad, who her mom used to have an order of protection against, who just got out of prison a few weeks ago and showed up in her house?), so he punched her and her friend, and then stabbed his own daughter 20 times. In the neck, hard enough to hit her spine. In her abdomen. And in both of her eyes. The other little girl, he went easy on. He only stabbed her 11 times in the neck and abdomen.
I reserve my approval of capital punishment for serial killers, because I find their existence so deeply troubling and I want them gone. (I know this isn't exactly a principled stand, but it's how I feel.) Hobbs isn't quite a serial killer at this point, so I don't want the death penalty for him. But what he did is so vile, so inexplicable, it's pushing me past the bounds of principled stands.
I think that it's important to insist on principled stands even more than ever in circumstances like these. Too quickly and easily is someone labeled "monster," and then suddenly they can be treated as horrendously as the criminal justice system sees fit (or, rather, chooses not to see).
This case makes me deeply sad, before all of the networks picked it up, my roommate told me about it and I was nearly in tears...
But I still think that throwing criminals into prisons where they are going to be beaten and raped is only going to further the problem, not solve it.
Thanks for the thought-provoking post.
I like how you assume he's quilty before there has even been a trial. Isn't it presumed inocent until proven quilty. i don't think he could have done this.
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