Sometimes our legal system frightens me. It should frighten all of us when it lets someone who has demonstrated that they're a risk to either the general public or their victim's safety have fewer restrictions on their freedom.
Shannon Burke, once again, convinced the judge to go easier on him. First he got bond granted (after violating his original conditions of release by violating the "no contact" order). Now the judge is permitting him to do out-patient drug treatment instead of going to a residential program (see Orlando Sentinel article at http://tinyurl.com/ndwlk5).
Is he getting preferential treatment because of his "celebrity" status? Or is it because he's got a good privately retained lawyer? It's hard to say. I do know that he was previously diagnosed as a sociopath/narcissist. Perhaps he's just working the system.
Finally, I'd like to know if his victim's wishes were taken into account at today's hearing. I am appalled that the judge is enabling Mr. Burke to gradually undo our community's ability to closely supervise him.
This truly infuriates me!
ReplyDeleteThe information that I have gleaned stated that the psychiatrist doing the evaluation decided Burke did not need impatient treatment.
For the safety of humankind, I would truly like to check the records of this doctor. I would like to know if he generally works in tandem with lawyers or if he ever does any good for people.