According to the article he asked his lawyer. He was CONVICTED of violent crime. Statute of limitations, if there is one for armed robbery, shouldn’t be a factor.
There’s no law that says he’s obligated to remind them. They told him to wait. He waited.
Did you read the original article? It was linked in the responses here, I believe. He was told by the court to go home and wait for them to contact him about when he would be taken to prison to start serving his sentence.
He did. After a while, he inquired about when they would contact him. They told him to be patient. So he was. He went about his life for 13 years waiting for the day they would contact him and take him to prison.
Then one day, the SWAT team shows up and arrests him. Why? He wasn’t hiding. He wasn’t evading. He was just living a productive life and they sent SWAT.
Did they try to pick up a phone and call him and say “Hey, mind coming in? We have a spot open for you now?” No, they sent SWAT.
Did they think he was a flight risk? Clearly he wasn’t, he lived in the open where they could have contacted him.
Did they think he was dangerous? Clearly he wasn’t, he hadn’t been in trouble since his conviction.
So where was the justice at this point? The judge decided that he had reformed himself while living in the open in an open society.
I believe imprisonment should be for separating those who refuse to live in a civil society without breaking it’s laws. I don’t believe prison should be to punish or reform the criminal, I believe prison should be about protecting society. That’s why I don’t believe we should be releasing people from prison if we make it clear they cannot be trusted in society (i.e. registering sex offenders) nor should we be paroling people who have multiple violent offenses on their record.
But this guy? After 13 years, I would say that he is not a danger to society. Society will not be better protected by putting him in prison. So, to my mind, justice has been served already.
I think the article is confusing on that point.
But, seems he played by their rules and they screwed up. Errors by the government should ALWAYS favor citizens. Period.