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Woman forgives turkey tosser
A New York woman who was seriously injured when a young man tossed a turkey through her windshield helped spare her assailant a long prison term. Prosecutor Peter Mayer told a judge in Suffolk County, N.Y., that Victoria Ruvolo's compassion convinced him to seek a six-month sentence for Ryan Cushing, Newsday reported. He also said he believed that Cushing did not intend to harm anyone with his "egregious" act. Cushing was a passenger in his cousin's car when he threw the just-purchased turkey out the window. The carcass shattered Ruvolo's windshield. After the hearing, Cushing apologized to Ruvolo as he left the courtroom and the two hugged and cried. Outside, he said that he loved Ruvolo, describing her as "the best person there is."
I'm sure she's "the best person there is," but we'd probably all be better off if Mr. Turkey Tosser was behind bars for 10-20. He damaged her car, injured her, and could have killed her. The fact is, he's an idiot, and he's likely to do something equally stoopid when he's let out. This isn't Pakistan, where criminal cases seem to be resolved in civil proceedings. It's the U.S., where the docket reads "State vs. Turkey Tosser." That means the state, and not the kind-hearted Ms. Ruvolo, is the complaintant and in effect the injured party. A government of laws is in the long run more fair to more people than is a government of men, even though you're more likely to find leniency under the government of men.

Posted by: Fred 2005-08-16
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=126876