“Instead of putting this guy in jail and going through the courts for $1.29, there should be a way where the store and petty thief simply agree to let the guy wash the windows and pick up the trash for a half an hour or something.
Why spend thousands of taxpayer dollars on a case like this?”
It seems to me if the store owner wants that, it’s be ok.
But you’d need someone providing window wash stuff, making sure the job was done and done right, and watching him so he doesn’t stuff a bunch more merchandise down his pants.
Ideally, he should be able to work it off. Realistically, he wouldn’t show up, or he’d show up drunk, or he’d do a crap job, or he’d steal.
As for why spend thousands of dollars, it’s reality. Either we have a mechanism for businessmen to do business or we require them to allow theft. Is that more reasonable?
I did say in isolation, if he has been doing this a while, I wouldn’t show any leniency. If you want to make an example of him, go ahead. I am just asking if it makes sense to waste all the time and money and energy on this guy, in isolation from everything else.