Sensible Decision Reached By Judge
Dear Ann Landers: I was impressed by Judge Ted Poe’s handling of a drunken driving accident. We need more like him. I hope you will share this article with your readers. - Pleasantly Surprised in Houston
Dear Houston: According to an article by Stefanie Asin of the Houston Chronicle, Judge Poe ordered strict probation conditions for a 19-year-old who had killed a father of two and their nanny. The teenager was a senior in high school when his speeding car slammed into a van driven by the 45-year-old father. The man and the nanny, age 28, were killed. The man’s wife survived the crash.
The teenager pleaded no contest to intoxicated manslaughter charges, and after serving six months in jail, he was released on 10 years’ probation, with these conditions imposed by the judge: Attend boot camp.
Erect a cross and a Star of David at the accident site, and maintain the symbols and the area around them.
Carry a sign for five days outside a bar that reads, “I killed two people while driving drunk.”
Carry pictures of the victims in his wallet for 10 years.
Refrain from driving for 10 years.
Speak to students at his high school about his experience.
Observe an autopsy of a person killed in a drunken driving accident.
Send $10 every week for 10 years to a memorial fund in the names of the victims.
Place flowers at their graves on their birthdays for 10 years.
The wife of the man who died agreed to all of these conditions and wants the teenager to teach others about the hazards of drunken driving. She said he can do more for the community out of jail than he can inside. “It’s appropriate for him to be exposed,” she said. “People locked away in prison can forget about it.”
What a sensible decision. We need more judges like Ted Poe. Instead of warehousing prisoners, we should educate them and see that they become contributing members of society.
Dear Ann Landers: That letter you printed about the man who was self-conscious about his balding head, until he realized it was no big deal, reminded me of a rhyme I composed some years ago. It might help other bald people lighten up on themselves. - Charles Grove, Reedsport, Ore.
Archibald Pate
Archibald Pate is a marvelous sight,
For he hasn’t a hair on his head!
His dome is as slick and shiny and bright
As a finely polished meteorite;
His follicles, dead as a cold winter night.
But Archibald Pate always said
That hair is a curse, a peril, a plight,
An effort to groom, a bother, a blight -
A shock of dead fiber to tangle at night,
When you’re otherwise safe in your bed.
But a man with a good head of glare
Is a good deal closer to Paradise.
Baldness is beautiful; baldness is nice;
No combing, no shedding, no dandruff, no lice,
No shampoo or barbers to bear.
Baldness is freedom, to put it concisely.
“Baldness,” he’s quick to declare,
“Is nature’s own cure for hair!”
xxxx