Via the Charlotte Observer, by way of Yahoo! News:
“According to court documents, [Jessica] Hall is unemployed and, with her husband’s salary, the couple takes in $30,384 a year. She receives $388 a month in food stamps.”
And she has been convicted of a felonious missile attack, for – get this – launching a supersized McDrink at another motorist in a fit of road rage. Yes: a freaking felony. What the fucking fuck? And people wonder why our prisons are overcrowded… Yes, I know it’s because of all the non-violent offenders who are locked away for consentual crimes – but this sort of shit doesn’t help, either.
Speaking of missile-launching, I seem to remember a somewhat similar event which incited a quasi-riot: the infamous Basket Brawl between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers. One fan threw a cup into a scrum of players, which led some of the players to take to the stands, some of the fans to take to the floor, and haymakers were flying everywhere (video via YouTube). Twelve people were ultimately charged pursuant the brawl. The cup thrower was sentenced to 30 days in jail for punching Ron Artest but acquitted of all charges relating to the cup. The man who threw the chair – a chair made of metal, into a crowd of people – got probation.
I’d like to presume that her financial situation is irrelevant; that justice is blind – and that this crime really warrants a two-year stint in the hoosegow. But I’m having a very hard time believing that a few more greenbacks wouldn’t have bought her a little more (or is it less?) justice.
A “no missiles” law was also used to ban hackey-sack from some state’s capitol grounds. I forget which.