This is a piece in City Journal, always a good read, by the Englishman, Theordore Dalrymple.
Two nights ago, my wife related something that she discovered in her geneological research. Three boys in Blytheville, AR, circa 1937, were charged with stealing a Dr Pepper from a lady's back porch.
At the time, the boys were age 11, 12 and 14. Their family was dirt poor and they were mowing yards to help out -- it was the tail end of the Great Depression. It was a hot July afternoon in the Delta, the boys were thirsty, and the lady whose yard they were mowing had inadvertently left a carton of Dr Pepper on the porch while moving her groceries into the house.
They only took one bottle, and shared it among themselves.
She turned them in. The boys were arrested and charged with theft. They were found guilty and sentenced to the state reform school, where they would remain until they turned 18. The younger one would spend seven years in the slammer -- for a few sips of hot Dr Pepper. The judge made notations in the margin of the trial papers (which are still on record) -- "we can't let this happen", "these boys have to learn their lesson", etc.
Fortunately, all three boys did "learn their lesson" -- because after they were released they all went on to lead uneventful lives and raise families of their own. All three served in WW II...and survived.
Nonetheless, my wife and I were both stunned by the story and what seemed to us Draconian punishment. We shook our heads and wondered, "What were they thinking?".
How ironic that, a day later, I would run across Dalrymple's piece. And, now, this one...