Today's version of 'justice' in the Big Apple
It's a good thing for young Jordon Benjamin that he is not a restaurant owner trying to earn a living and opening his establishment in defiance of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's unconstitutional orders. In that case, he'd actually get locked up. But unfortunately for society, murder and stabbing are not considered high-level crimes sufficient to lock up juvenile suspects like Benjamin in today's version of "justice" in the Big Apple.
For the past year, I've been gathering stories from New York where violent criminals are released from jail only to commit more violent crimes. Now, we will have to create a special section for those released a second time, even after committing an additional violent crime after the first release.
Benjamin is accused of stomping 60-year-old Juan Fresnada to death for 15 minutes on Christmas Eve 2019 together with a few friends after mugging him for just one dollar cash. One of the adult suspects was held without bail. Sixteen-year-old Benjamin was initially chargedwith second-degree murder and gang assault and was confined to a juvenile facility in Brooklyn, New York. However, like so many violent criminals, Benjamin was set free this past March by Supreme Court Justice Denis Boyle due to – you guessed it – coronavirus. Because, after all, in the minds of these perverted judges, there is a greater threat of a 16-year-old dying from coronavirus in juvenile detention than of an extremely violent youth victimizing someone else on the street.
Except, of course, the opposite is true. On Dec. 14, Benjamin allegedly stabbed Amya Hicks in the stomach as part of a random attack near his Bronx home. The young woman had to undergo surgery for her wounds, but by the time she got out of the hospital, Justice Denis Boyle had already sprung Benjamin from jail again, according to the New York Post.
It's unclear whether COVID was the consideration for release the second time or if this judge in general simply doesn't believe juveniles can be a threat to the public.
Oh, and on top of Benjamin being out of jail, he will now have access to all the personal information of his victim, Amya Hicks. The new jailbreak law signed by the governor in 2019 allows criminal defendants to access all information of witnesses and victims within 15 days of the arraignment, thereby aggravating the anti-bail provision. The same criminal defendants now out on the streets immediately after violently attacking people also have more access to potential witnesses than ever before — while out of jail. Hicks lives just two blocks from where Benjamin and his gang hang out, according to her mother.
Our broken juvenile system is perhaps the greatest threat to our streets today. The system gets more and more lenient while so many youths become more violent than even adults at an increasingly young age. The less they are deterred, the more violent they get and the more their younger brothers learn that crime pays.
Nearly 40 years ago, President Reagan's Task Force on Victims of Crime presciently observed in its final report, "A substantial proportion of the violent crime in this country is committed by juveniles, who are becoming more violent at an increasingly early age."The problem has gotten exponentially worse in recent years. Juveniles essentially never serve time and are back on the streets to victimize more people, often involving roving gangs of 5-15 hardened and fully grown men in all but name only. "Armed robbery, rape, and murder cannot be laid at the door of mere immaturity or youthful exuberance," warned Reagan's Task Force. "The victims of these crimes are no less traumatized because the offender was under age."
Earlier this year, a teen who killed a senior in a knockout attack at the Frederick County Fairgrounds in Maryland as part of a massive group attack received zero prison time.
Have you heard a single Republican call for a task force for victims of crime and to specifically address the leaky juvenile justice system? Where is the dialogue about true "criminal justice reform" in the way Reagan used the term in 1982 — on behalf of victims of crime?
New York City alone has seen a 103% increase in shootings this year. Across the country, 51 major cities have experienced an average homicide increase of 31% over 2019. Yet both parties — to varying degrees — are focused on the police as the problem, not on the criminals and the policies behind releasing them, which include coronavirus jailbreak. Meanwhile, in 2018, there were just five killings by the NYPD, compared to 93 in 1971.
So why is the negative public policy focus all on the positive trajectory of police shootings and not on the negative trajectory of crime and homicides? Because neither party represents the people. They just sent tens of billions of dollars to the very cities that have shut down our lives while using the virus to release these dangerous criminals.
Victims of crime, taxpayers, and business owners simply don't have a seat at the table in this two-tiered justice system supported by the uniparty controlling our government.
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