On Stealing Cereal and Second Chances

categories: criminalization, Government, Housing, News, prisoner reentry

Published October 06, 2009 @ 12:46PM PT

Yesterday, a Florida homeless man with 50 prior convictions was sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing a box of cereal and jug of milk. At the same time, another man in St. Paul, Minnesota - formerly in prison and on the streets himself - is learning television production skills through a job training program. The moral of the story? Helping the homeless isn't just a moral obligation, it's a smart financial move.

As if the moral obligation to help those without a home isn't enough, today we're reminded of another important reason we all have an interest in helping the homeless thanks to two seemingly unrelated stories.

First, a homeless man with a history of alcoholism was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday for stealing a box of Lucky Charms and a jug of milk. Mark Anthony Griffin received this hefty sentence because of his status as a "prison release reoffender." He had over 50 prior convictions - mostly misdemeanor charges ranging from public intoxication to trespassing. Griffin's brother, an elementary school principal, asked the court to help his brother treat his long-term alcoholism rather than sending him to prison, according to The Leger. "He needs help," said Joseph Griffin, an elementary school principal. "If he gets the help, he won't be in court."

The reaction to this story has resoundingly been disbelief ("15 years for stealing cereal!?") and anger over the criminal justice system costs this man has accumulated over the years. Well, hate to be the bearer of bad news, but assuming Mr. Griffin is your average chronically homeless person, then the costs of his criminal justice run-ins are not even the beginning of it.

We can assume that Mr. Griffin stayed in a homeless shelter from time to time ($). We can assume that, now and then, he checked into the emergency room for medical treatment ($$). We can assume he had a case manager ($), received free meals ($), and had other interactions with law enforcement where he was not arrested ($).

Suffice to say, we can assume that Mr. Griffin's homelessness has cost his community a great deal financially over the years. Many studies from across the country have documented the average costs a chronically homeless person racks up annually (Portland, Oregon, for example, found that each of their 35 chronically homeless individuals was costing the city $42K each in public resources each year... yikes!).

Yes, treatment would be a better option than jail at this point. But providing housing combined with supportive services (including alcohol treatment) the moment he hit the streets would have been an even better option.

Now, let's jump north to St. Paul, Minnesota. Today, CNN featured the story of a prisoner who was discharged into homelessness. Rather than succumbing to life on the streets, he was given the chance to work and learn a new marketable skill thanks to a local cable news program. In addition to reporting about homelessness issues, it teaches formerly homeless folks about the world of TV production.

Ron Kennebrew, the man featured in the CNN article, summed it up best when he said homelessness can be one of two things: "a place in despair or ... a slingshot to opportunity." This is true for both the individuals who experience homelessness, and the communities who must choose how to treat its homeless population.

Two men, two stories that began very similarly, two totally different endings. Is your community treating your homeless population like serial criminals? Or are you harnessing their potential - while simultaneously meeting basic needs - for the mutual benefit of all?

Image from The Ledger.

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Comments (8)

When i was the ornges I just knew that you were talking about Polk County, Fl. Facing the same assumption of sentencing arrangements myself. Just hope that the state attornies office will show some compassion towards me when i go in front of Judge Jacobsen again on violation charges.

15 years is steep and what every assumption of help is now out the window for this man as he preps to do his fifteen year bid. This is just an account of the amount of strenght that is taken to deal with the burdens of economic dispositioning that those residing in polk county are facing, were threats as such have to be made on te simplest of the offenders that fill the court rooms everyday in polk county, fl. Economic growth is very slow and people have to resort to measures a such stated in continue to survive. There is so much that could be done in polk county, fl to prevent happenings as such when the assumption of assistance is expressed. Geographicly we are considered a rural county so certain urban criteria of assistance practices are over-looked that really should be reevaulated and used under the assumption of rural endeavors as Floridas third largest county and second leading citrus producer is now being exploited for the actions taken against the homeless.

Posted by Aaron Shaw on 10/07/2009 @ 12:00AM PT
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I hang my head in shame at the state of our nation when it has stooped to this level of disgusting, ill conceived justice. The judge that handed down this sentence needs a wake up call, and to be removed from the bench forever. I am ashamed at the way this nation has been warped into the disgusting corporate greed, selfishness, self absorbed capacity. How can these judges, law enforcement, and even their local community and treat one another in such a ignorant fashion?

Instead of treating these precious individuals the cruelty of mankind, why are theynot holding out a hand to help lift themselves up from the despair that they have been forced to live? Where is the humanity in the country of my birth? Where is the compassion, the deep caring to help your fellow humna being? Where has it gone? Have we become a nation of selfishness and anger that a minute of kindness can not longer be offered instead of humility and judgement?

This is not the nation I was born in. This is not the country I use to be proud of,l This has become a place of anger, hate and greed. I am so sorry for this example of our American justice system.

Shame on all of you that partake in this miscarriage of justive because you cannot stop for a minute to offer kindness and grace to another human being. Shame on you all.

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:

There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up.”
Oscar Wilde quotes

“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.”
Oscar Wilde quotes

“It is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes... we make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it accords with our emotions - especially selfish ones.”
Alexander Solzhenitsyn quotes

“You shouldn't punish others for your own choices”
AzSilver

“Those who do not hate their own selfishness and regard themselves as more important than the rest of the world are blind because the truth lies elsewhere”
Blaise Pascal quotes

“Cast aside those who liken godliness to whimsy and who try to combine their greed for wealth with their desire for a happy afterlife.”
Kahlil Gibran quotes

“The dynamo of our economic system is self-interest which may range from mere petty greed to admirable types of self-expression”
Felix Frankfurter quotes

“Capitalism is founded on greed and envy”
Charles Long quotes

“Let us clear any romantic notion of daredeviltry from our minds. It is nothing less than a sordid crime of violence inspired by vast greed.”
Edmund Davies quotes

“There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed.”
Mahatma Gandhi quotes

“No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.”
P. J. O'Rourke quotes

"An intriguing paradox of the 1990s is that it isn't called a decade of greed.”
Paul A. Samuelson quotes

“Grief and greed are as inextricably entwined as love and marriage should be.”
Ann Kent quotes

“The secret of success is to realize that the crisis on our planet is much larger than just deciding what to do with your own life, and if the system under which we live the structure of western civilization begins to collapse because of our selfishness and greed, then it will make no difference whether you have $1 million dollars when the crash comes or just $1.00. The only work that will ultimately bring any good to any of us is the work of contributing to the healing of the world.”
Marianne Williamson quotes

Posted by Pommawolf Johnson on 10/08/2009 @ 09:25PM PT
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We need a new system why should some be able to eat fest and others to beg and steal to get a bite to eat.. OUr government has really let this nation down

Posted by April Barlous on 10/09/2009 @ 08:59PM PT
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Just recently here in the UK, two young men battered another man to death..... no reason... they just felt like it
They received prison terms of eight and five years respectively.......

Guess next time I'm gonna do something illegal..... I'll skip breakfast, just go on a killing spree.... A?

Posted by john stack on 10/11/2009 @ 12:37PM PT
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The legal system is... CAPRICIOUS.

~~~

I once thought judges, lawyers, politicians, etc. were SMART. Smarter than the average bear.

Now i think they're just ordinary people with NO greater horse sense than any other horse.

~~~

He was actually arrested for choosing Lucky Charms... that's not funny. But neither is Lucky Charms.

~~~

i DEPLORE THIS HIDEOUS JUDICIAL UNDECISION.

Posted by Cdin Org on 10/11/2009 @ 03:12PM PT
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If you consider that our Cereal Criminal racked up more charges prior to trial and probably after turning down the 3/2 plea deal he was offered. It would be a safe starting point to discuss the possibility he is/was on a self destructive course of action. That's basically what Alcoholics and other Addicts are up to. His brother was right and the Judge agreed. But locking people up seems to be a national pastime. The letter of the law had the judges' hands tied. Just another example of the Gordian knots used to tie up the fringes of society. To matter of fact? Yes and yet ,what would we do to help? Register our indignation! Create an appeal fund ,if that is possible, in return for his life story and movie rights?

There is certainly more of a story here than meets the eye.

Posted by Keith Bender on 10/14/2009 @ 08:02AM PT
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There are a few stories about homelessness in here, if we all pay attention we can solve the problem, following the footsteps of the man featured on CNN, he had a wonderful opportunity to do well instead of the man in Florida who was put in jail.

Posted by marios psomas on 10/25/2009 @ 10:10AM PT
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The justice system in this country totally SUCKS! "There oughta be a law - AGAINST the law!"

Posted by Candyce Rice on 10/25/2009 @ 02:38PM PT
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Author

Shannon has worked in homeless shelters and service organizations in San Francisco, the Triangle region of North Carolina, and currently in the greater Boston area. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.