Recently there has been a lot of controversy over the jail time given to the male person arrested in Lake Sumter Square for engaging in public misconduct. Six months in jail and a daily fine. The woman involved in this event is going to trial and it has been said she is facing up to one year in jail-she was on probation for a DUI and then was involved in the sexual incident.
I was surprised and pleased to see that there has been quite the reaction to this proposed and imposed sentencing from Village residents. There has been quite a bit of public opinion that the sentencing is harsh for the crime. While no one seems to be in favor of the national and international publicity this story has brought upon The Villages, there is quite a level of empathy for the unfortunate situation these individuals brought upon themselves, a victimless crime with sensational attention.
Most recently, the woman at the center of the storm obtained a new lawyer. You can read more about that at the link below:
http://villages-news.com/villages-woman-sex-square-case-new-attorney/
In judging the impact of a victimless crime, it is important to look at the ramifications of the behavior. In this case, it was after 10 p.m. at night, and in The Villages, aside from a few local establishments, you can hear a pin drop wherever you are, minus a few bull frogs and alligators croaking. There are no children out on the streets, the music crowd has come and gone, and it is relatively dark outside. Not that this gives anyone freedom of license to do what they want where they want, but it sets the scene for what our evenings are like in The Villages.
We also know that the woman involved in this experience was previously arrested for DUI and thank heavens no one was hurt. This is a far more serious issue in my eyes than the previous mentioned lapse of judgment in the square, as the ramifications of the impact of driving while intoxicated can easily not be a victimless crime. We have far too much of that in The Villages with serious impact on other innocent people.
My focus here is on the woman involved. She is a woman in her senior years. She obviously enjoys alcohol, and seems to have a reaction to drinking that causes her to make the type of decisions that are regretted in the morning. Additionally, she puts herself and others at risk when she gets behind the golf cart steering wheel.
The thought of putting this woman in jail for a year when she has a probable drinking problem stymies me. If she has a drinking problem, she needs treatment, not incarceration. Yes there are AA Programs behind bars, but the woman is in her senior years, she looks after a husband who is in a wheelchair, she more than likely has her own health problems being that she has a drinking problem, and she will not have nutritional and nurturing care for her issues behind bars. What justice will be served while she spends a year in jail? Orange does not need to be her new black.
We need to look at punishment, cost to us as taxpayers, and outcomes. The punishment should fit the crime. The more serious crime is the DUI, of which probation was given. The probation was violated by the incident in the square. Fair enough, this needs to be addressed. How it is addressed needs to be assessed by the overall evaluation of the offender and why probation was violated. Was it malicious? Was there damage to property or harm to others caused? And why did another incident involving law enforcement happen so quickly for this person after their previous violation?
Punishment in this instance will not be served without proper intervention. Intervention can be offered in many ways that do not take the person our of society for their non-violent behavior and which will provide a long term remedy to their disease of which I will identify as alcoholism. There may also be other associated needs that this woman has which as a society we may be able to assist with. She is in her 60’s, she is a caregiver to a husband who has needs for support, she as most caregivers is probably experiencing excessive stress and exhaustion. I see this regularly in my business providing support and intervention for seniors.
True not all caregivers turn to alcohol or other behavior to deal with their feelings of being overwhelmed. Instead many experience depression; they go to the doctor and take prescription medications to handle their emotional and physical issues caused from the constant responsibilities of being on call, lifting, turning, cleaning and responding, as well as often being secluded in their own homes because of their caregiving duties. People cope in different ways depending on their personal strength-mental and physical.
The cost of incarceration could be better served on treatment programs and providing supervision in the community. The person can recover from their alcohol abuse and find programs and services for herself, and also get some assistance at home in her caregiving responsibilities. Attending regular support meetings for her alcohol use would also build a support group around her for when she needs to reach out. And before she reaches for the bottle in a desperate moment.
The outcome would hopefully be a woman who is healthier, who is no longer having behaviors that cause her or others risk, and will enhance her judgment to avoid ever having the ridicule and attention that her public behavior has caused her. It may be that she is able to live out the rest of her life from a standpoint of contributing back in ways that will bring her self-esteem and reputation into a brighter light.
Nearly half of Florida’s new prison admissions are nonviolent offenders charged with third degree felonies, the lowest offense on the felony severity chart. It does not make sense to put a woman in her 60’s that has a disease, alcoholism, in prison with violent and dangerous offenders. The punishment should fit the crime.
Let’s divert this nonviolent offender from a potential one year behind bars to instead an option of treatment and support for her own addiction. The Villages makes its own reputation when it says “We are a drinking community with a golf problem” which many people proudly display on their golf cart license plates. I have written about the generous flow of alcohol before; now let’s help one of our residents who suffers from this very issue.
And again, I urge, we need to tackle the alcohol issue in The Villages as a community, because it permeates in every village, in every square, at every event; and we see and support our neighbor’s and customers over -indulging without taking responsibility for being enablers.
I like to think of Happy Hour as a metaphor for life, I am one who is often hosting a party or entertaining, and I struggle as to also best understand how to react when I see people I love becoming liquid junkies in my own backyard. We talk about the ones we know who struggle, but we feel compelled to mind our own business. I dread when this decision is made too late, when intervening is no longer possible, when we suffer sadness because we could or would do nothing to help.
We have a chance to make a difference in the life of this woman who is facing a year behind bars; as a community we could make a statement now that we do not condone her behavior, but we support treatment and intervention. This is a chance to talk about alcohol abuse that is inherent throughout The Villages, and it is a time to look in the mirror and wonder when is too much for one’s own enjoyment? When do you cross the line to your own public humiliation or potential to harm another as you drive home from your evening outing?
Let’s start talking about alcoholism the way we talk about knee replacements, plastic surgery and a troubled golf swing. It would be great to have our Villages Health Care system take a lead on this.
For questions of comments, please contact: Jane Bloom, The Other Daughter email janeinthevillages@gmail.com Cell 425 299 6020 www.theotherdaughter.org
