Why are convicted sexual predators so often let out of prison to rape and kill other children?
If you want the answer to that question, read the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s piece on Joseph E. Duncan III, “a convicted rapist, was arrested July 2 in Idaho, where he is charged with kidnapping an 8-year-old girl and suspected of raping her and killing her family.”
Here’s the lead:
“In retrospect, it’s easy to conclude that the $15,000 bail set for Joseph E. Duncan III in a Minnesota courtroom last April was too low to protect the public,” the story begins.
Is the Star Tribune saying that the problem was that the bail wasn’t sufficient? Any bail was too low for this man.
And how about that “in retrospect”?
Read on:
“The case has many people questioning how Becker County authorities could have released Duncan on bail after he was charged in March with molesting a 6-year-old boy in Detroit Lakes, Minn., last July.
“The answers aren’t very comforting. Even in the age of computers, experts say, judges and attorneys often have incomplete information about defendants when bail is set. And when it comes to getting information about defendants’ records from other states — as was the case with Duncan — the problems multiply.”
So it’s just too much trouble to make sure vicious men who prey on children stay in jail?
The story continues:
“Even when they have detailed, up-to-date information in front of them, it’s extremely hard for court officials to predict the future actions of a convicted criminal, said psychiatrist Carl Malmquist, who for years prepared defendant evaluations for Hennepin County judges.”
Predict future actions? Yes, hard to predict. But we know their past actions. These should be sufficient to put them behind bars and throw away the keys.
Back to the Star-Tribune:
“’The truth, he said, is that at most bail hearings, ’the kind of data needed to assess a person to make those predictions is usually not available.’”
No one should be released without a full review of the data.
But that’s not the problem.
The problem is that these monsters come up for parole.
Thanks to Powerline for spotting this humdinger of a story.