The Lottery is Not the Problem

The most heinous thing happened the other day and, if true, the
man should spend the rest of his life behind bars.  That, however, is the
less likely scenario of the situation involving Daniel Snay of Uxbridge.
 Snay, a four time convicted Level 3 sex offender was arrested for yet
another sex crime against a child.  It was reported that Snay used money
that he won on a scratch ticket in 2008 to lure the victim.  So instead of
tightening up the incarceration laws in the Commonwealth, Rep. Richard Moore of
Uxbridge has proposed a bill that will solve this issue going forward, he wants
to ban sex offenders from participating in the Lottery.  That makes almost
as much sense as CNN anchor Don Lemon asking if supernatural powers were
involved in the missing Malaysian Airlines flight.
Rep. Moore’s heart is in the right place,
unfortunately as a lawmaker he needs to take the emotion out of it and look at
this with a clear head.  The lottery winnings were a contributing factor,
not the reason.  If convicted, again, shall the winnings be forfeited? Yes.
 But to prevent them from participating?  Not only is that a civil
rights violation how you could possibly police that? 
This is where it gets tricky.  If a
convicted felon, of any crime is released from prison they have supposedly paid
their debt to society and or, are rehabilitated according to parole boards.
 If Snay had been released four times by the Commonwealth, the parole
board obviously felt he was not a danger to society and would not commit this
crime again, or again, or again. Preventing him to purchase a lottery ticket,
where the odds are in the millions of him winning, is going to prevent him from
committing this act again, or again, or again.
It’s staggering to me while watching the
news and I hear stories of people getting arrested and I hear it’s their
“sixth DUI”, or it’s their “eighth drug charge” or
“fourth sexual assault on a child”.  There is the problem
people.  I am all for rehabilitation, but I am also a proponent of three
strikes and you are out, must be the umpire in me.
If we are going to take away the ability
of a convicted sex offender to purchase lottery tickets then we need to prevent
convicted DUI offender from purchasing cars, convicted arsonists from buying
cigarettes or convicted drug dealers from buying aspirin.  If we are going
to start banning what they can do on the outside, then why not keep them on the
inside.  This is coming from a state that First Degree Murder by a
juvenile does not carry an automatic life sentence.
I hope Snay spends the rest of his days in
prison, because I know the treatment he will get will be much more appropriate.
 But as the lights dim down on this issue the lawmakers should abandon the
ban on lottery tickets and focus it more on keeping monsters like Snay behind
bars.  The money may have contributed, but he would have continued to do
this without the lottery ticket.
3D
If you don’t take it from, ask my wife.

One thought on “The Lottery is Not the Problem

  • March 28, 2014 at 1:29 am
    Permalink

    This is a case of don't believe everything you read. Mr Snay was in the process of evicting the victims mother from his rental property. Its less likely that he abused this boy and more likely Mr Snay is an easy target. http://www.bostoncriminallawyerblog.com – see Sam Goldberg response in this law blog

    Reply

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