After reading “Getting Off Easy,” I would like the Daily’s editorial board, as well as everyone affected by their article, to put themselves in Nick Johnson’s shoes. Mr. Johnson pleaded guilty to a class C felony. This shows he is at least honest and decent enough to know he has done something wrong instead of making up an alibi or other defense like so many other criminals. Many criminals are convicted and punished with considerably tougher sentences not only for their crime, but for their cowardice and stupidity. Mr. Johnson was smart enough to know that you can’t fight the system. Perhaps he also knew that all evidence of his act would eventually be gone. This is where I agree with the board. Mr. Johnson’s record should not be expunged after five years. After all, he committed very costly vandalism. Anyone he may have business with in the future has a right to know this in case they feel it necessary to protect their property. Consider a possible rationale for your likening the sentence itself to “a tap on the shoulder.” Financial restitution can generally be considered close to the minimum punishment for any crime. We were all taught, even as children, the general courtesy of compensating others for what you have taken, broken, abused or otherwise denied them, intentionally or not. In our adult lives, the consequences for our mistakes are raised as the mistake itself becomes more serious, because we recognize the need to prevent such things from happening again. So many people out there interpret this facet of human life via the strictest and most blatantly incorrect point-of-view possible, in that relatively lenient sentences are not and cannot be substantial and damaging to those convicted. Think for a moment about just how much money $36,000 is. For an in-state student, that can pay for about three years of education at Iowa State University. It can buy two brand-new cars. Thirty-six thousand dollars is considerably more than the average worker in Iowa makes in an ENTIRE YEAR. And Nick Johnson has to pay every penny of it, somehow, because he made one stupid mistake. As for the community service, you try working for five weeks for no pay, doing nothing else for your education, and see how much fun that is. Stretch it out over more time and it will feel like a huge burden. For someone with little, if any, criminal background, the sentence should do its job just fine. I am not saying it is necessarily fair, but you are not even acknowledging that it is a punishment at all. Furthermore, I can’t speak for Mr. Johnson myself, but the humiliation and shame of seeing your name strewn across statewide headlines for that reason would be punishment enough, if I were in his place. The cruel things that some (read: Greg Jerrett) have said about Mr. Johnson in the recent past go beyond satire and into needless ranting — I believe hanging was mentioned somewhere — which only serves to vent the anger of people who think they never make a mistake, God forbid. Crime is not excusable, but neither is it a scourge that defines the perpetrator as a whipping boy for those who are tired of the world’s problems and need a scapegoat. I just hope that Mr. Johnson has taken all this flak at face value, yet learned that every decision he makes, just like the decisions we all make every day, may come back to haunt him. By facing up to his crime, he may have gotten a break, but it probably won’t feel like it. Maybe someday you’ll slip up and get a break too, and only be asked to pay five figures.

Dan Heck

Senior

Computer science