THEFT: Justice doesn't add up

The Coeur d'Alene Press recently reported that a retired Deputy County Clerk stole $139,000 from taxpayer funds and was sentenced to 90 days in jail with restitution of only $49,000. A few days later The Press reported on Nov. 3 that a 20-year-old man was sentenced for petit theft. He had to pay $249 in restitution, which is probably the full amount of his theft, but he was also sentenced to a year in jail with 175 days of that suspended. That means he will serve 190 days in jail. Was that a misprint?

I'm no legal expert and I do not know all the particulars in each case but I do know that this is not justice. It's more like a cartoon where anything can happen. I suppose the retired thief clerk will get her full county pension despite a 10-year career stealing money.

Yes, it is a cartoon with clowns as prosecutors and judges. All I can say is that I am guilty of contempt of court because it is obvious we all are not all equal before the law and contempt is what the judges in these cases deserve most.

TRACY R. HAGUE

Coeur d'Alene