Is This Justice?

United States
September 16, 2009 10:02am CST
While I agree that the first situation is serious I wanted to point out the obvious discrepancy in justice between these two cases. The First: [i] Two North Platte women, Brandy Hovey, 25, and Sheree Rodriguez, 21, were arrested Saturday night on multiple counts of child abuse after police allege they engaged three 16-year-old females in a physical altercation at the Touchdown Club and Cedar Bowl parking lot. According to North Platte Police Investigator Rick Ryan, police officers responded to a disturbance call at approximately 9:15 p.m. on Saturday night. After investigating the incident, police arrested Hovey on three counts of felony child abuse and Rodriguez was arrested on two counts of felony child abuse. Each charge is a Class 3A felony, which carries up to 5 years in prison each. In all, Hovey faces up to 15 years in prison while Rodriguez faces up to 10 years in prison. An 11-year-old and 12-year-old witness said that one of the women attempted to bribe her with candy if she told police that she didn't do anything wrong and threatened her with violence if she didn't do as she said. The 12-year-old said the woman offered her $20 if she would also lie to the police. The juveniles told the officer on the scene about the bribe. Police are still investigating.[/i] Now it is not said how severe the injuries were, however it sounds like there was a fist fight between 5 people 3 of which happened to be underage. Again I am not saying there should not be repercussions for adults in this situation but check out the very next story on the same page: [i]Marshall Cowger, 26, faces up to 6 years in prison for third-degree domestic assault, a Class 1 misdemeanor and strangulation, a Class 4 felony. Cowger was arrested Sunday night after police responded to Cowger's residence at 509 South Poplar at approximately 11 p.m. on a disturbance call. Police investigated the scene and said they discovered physical injuries to the female victim, which included marks on her chest, neck and back. Ryan said the injuries to the victim's neck indicated that a strangulation had occurred and after interviewing the victim, police say that Cowger had choked the victim to the point where the natural breathing process was interrupted. The misdemeanor charge carries up to 1 year in jail while the Class 4 felony strangulation charge carries up to 5 years in prison.[/i] Five people get in a fight and two adult women are facing up to 15 years in prison while a guy chokes a (girlfriend?) female victim to the point that normal breathing is interrupted....(that means she could have died right?) and he is facing a measly 6 years! Where is the Justice?
2 responses
kprofgames
@kprofgames (3091)
• United States
16 Sep 09
You are right that doesn't seem fair at all. Somewhere when a minor is involved they jump on that, but a man can beat, choke and do whatever and he gets a slap on the wrist compared to what these two woman were involved in. That don't add up for me. That doesn't add up at all.
1 person likes this
shewolf52002
@shewolf52002 (1214)
• United States
16 Sep 09
The sad thing is we have had years of domestic violence training and reports and yet the laws still have not caught up. It is crazy! In case anyone was interested in the link I forgot to put it in the discussion: http://www.nptelegraph.com/articles/2009/09/15/news/60004079.txt
kprofgames
@kprofgames (3091)
• United States
16 Sep 09
You are so very right there. I had to call 911 a few times before my husband moved out and the laws need to change. Even the sherrif said unless there is physicall evidence of something happening then they can't do anything. They are upset that their hands are tied too. The sad part about it, is it's usually too late before they can actually do something.
gitfiddleplayer
@gitfiddleplayer (10362)
• United States
16 Sep 09
This country (USA) is very protective of children and even though adults can harm other adults with more force we tend to focus on childrens rights and our need to slam the cell door on anyone who would dare harm them. The kids in the fight sound like they were threatened enough for police action, the lady in the other story is an adult and although she did not die, its sad that it has to come to an end to justify stiffer action, since I don't know the whole history of the couple its hard to say if it has happened before or not. There is no justice in this world but there will be in heaven.
shewolf52002
@shewolf52002 (1214)
• United States
24 Sep 09
I agree to a point and you are right without knowing more background on both stories it is really hard to tell. I know there are some 16 year old girls that will instigate a fist fight in a minute and then hide behind their age, of course there are adults who will do the same regardless of the age of the victim. Of course with the adult woman you can always argue that abused women believe they have fewer choices than a child, they feel trapped and scared..... Thank God for Heaven!