A criminal is someone who commits a wrong that is punishable by law. There are many criminals that commit numerous crimes throughout their lives and are never caught. The people who are found guilty in a court of law are sentenced by a Judge who decides the appropriate punishment. As a young nineteen-year-old girl, Doris, was found guilty of selling two hundred dollars worth of heroin to an undercover police officer. She was sentenced to serve between ten and twenty years in prison. She could not tolerate prison life and escaped during the first year of her sentence. Upon her capture by legal authorities thirty-four years later, her family and friends submitted a plea of clemency to the governor of Michigan. Despite a compelling argument for clemency, Doris still should serve the time for the crime she was convicted of by a jury of her peers. In 1974, Doris was a recent high school graduate who was working at a minimum wage paying job. She was driving a four hundred dollar car and was really struggling to make ends meet. She knew that selling drugs could lead to arrest, addiction, and even death. However, it helped her make ends meet. Her
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Detectives were able to connect Doris as the 1974 prison escapee from Michigan. Her family and friends questioned how this woman of such high moral character could be sent back to prison. They believed that a return to prison was not warranted for this community leader. Doris’ supporters did not know the hippy, drug dealing, teenage girl, that she was nearly three decades earlier. Even though Doris was “young and dumb” at the time she committed a serious crime, she should still face the consequences of her choices. She was old enough to understand there was a strong possibility she would be caught by the police; nevertheless, she continued to use and sell illegal substances
Detectives were able to connect Doris as the 1974 prison escapee from Michigan. Her family and friends questioned how this woman of such high moral character could be sent back to prison. They believed that a return to prison was not warranted for this community leader. Doris’ supporters did not know the hippy, drug dealing, teenage girl, that she was nearly three decades earlier. Even though Doris was “young and dumb” at the time she committed a serious crime, she should still face the consequences of her choices. She was old enough to understand there was a strong possibility she would be caught by the police; nevertheless, she continued to use and sell illegal substances