Seven Time Felon
And Loose on the Streets
By Daniel Muniz

It is natural for people to wonder how a hoodlum who has already been convicted and sentenced for numerous felonies can still be walking free on our streets. Many of these repeat offenders have chosen crime as a lifestyle so they are obviously not afraid of our court system and evidently, the fear of going back to prison does not serve as an effective deterrent. In fact, jail is simply one of many destinations for some of these thugs therefore it is not any big surprise that more crimes will eventually be committed.

And sadly, it is very difficult to keep a convicted felon in prison.

Many correctional institutions are loaded with numerous loopholes so it is actually very easy for an inmate to figure out how to beat the system so that he can minimize his jail time. For instance, lots of prisons allow the reading of a book to count towards credit for good behavior. Attend an anger management class or some kind of group therapy and that too can help reduce prison time. You get the picture.

As a result, it is quite simple to maximize the most points needed to win the earliest possible release.

Unfortunately, many states have also rigged their laws so that it is easier to allow inmates to serve only a fraction of their prison sentence while still having the appearance of meting out harsh penalties. As a result, a judge may look like he or she threw the book at a low-life but the truth is that a lot of sentences are only smoke and mirrors because there are so many ways a convict can legally earn an early release.

Unfortunately, it is the high cost of maintaining prisons which is often cited as the reason for states to resort to these shenanigans that actually minimize prison time for violent criminals.

But oftentimes, the public feels that there is a legitimate need to keep a repeat offender locked up for as long as possible. In fact, the reason a “repeat offender” is called that is because he will continue to commit more violent or serious crimes regardless of how often he is sent to jail. Therefore, it is ludicrous to allow an inmate to serve only a truncated sentence because of the enormous propensity to commit another serious or violent offense.

For instance, Donnie Earl Witt is a seven-time convicted felon and has served prison sentences for each of his past crimes.

However, he developed a romantic relationship with a secretary employed at the Oklahoma prison where he was doing time at. Although jail is obviously not a place for a woman to pick up men but perhaps that is the kind of man she was looking for. So upon Witt’s release, Witt continued his romance with this secretary and then moved in with her.

And the relationship was not limited solely to the woman he was living with but it also included her 13 year old daughter. In fact, Witt took numerous lewd photographs of this young teenager for his own gratification while also having a sexual relationship with her.

So once this trio was evicted from their apartment in Oklahoma City, they aimlessly trekked through four states before ending up in Texas. The teenager was then 14 when she became pregnant and was completely alone in the small city of Waco because her mother and Witt were arrested after a high speed car chase. She eventually gave birth to twins that she gave up for adoption. Soon afterwards, Witt was charged with the sexual assault of a child along with possession of child pornography. He was then convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

But for someone like Witt, who was already a seven time convicted felon, it is obvious that he should have been locked up for a very long time instead of being allowed to walk free on the streets to victimize more people. And that is why some states have enacted “three strikes” laws in which a habitual offender like Witt could have served a very long (if not for life) mandatory prison sentence by the third felony.

Naturally, the people who coddle criminals despise such laws.

Although they abhor prisons since they feel that criminals need psychological treatment instead of punishment, the people soft on crime especially detest the “three strikes” laws.

However, to the general public, the three strikes law makes sense.

Until thugs give up their life of crime, they are going to remain repeat offenders, particularly when the opportunity arises. And that makes them all the more dangerous knowing that they can eventually beat the system regardless of how viciously they harm other people.

The “hug a thug” proponents have tried to reach a compromise with certain states insisting that mandatory long or life sentences should only be instituted if and only if the third felony is a violent or a serious enough crime.

Apparently two brutal crimes do not satisfy the threshold for those who coddle criminals thus it takes a third one to make the issue serious enough to warrant a drastic prison sentence. And remember that this is only a compromise because the people soft on crime would prefer that things remain exactly the way they are. And it is this permissiveness that allowed a sex predator like Donnie Earl Witt the freedom to victimize a 13 year old girl.

Yes, it is expensive to house a low life for a very long time but it is better to keep him behind bars instead of roaming the streets. And that is an expense that I don’t mind paying for.

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