<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>I agree the sentence was overdone. Nobody is arguing that point. Let me repeat. I AGREE THE SENTENCE WAS TOO MUCH. Spell it with me! I A-G-R-E-E. (Or, in case that point is too literate for you, "Jail bad!")
That being said, you can't just overturn a sentence because it might be unfair. That's not how the legal system works.
And it's NOT the parole board's job to decide "Well, this guy's sentence was too long, let's just let him go!" It's a matter of the parole board looking at his behavior WHILE IN PRISON and determining whether or not they feel that he would be able to return to society rehabilitated and not a risk of a repeat crime. Does the parole board look at the amount of time he's been in there? Certainly. Up until two years ago, however, he was committing an average of two offenses a year, some of them more than just minor infractions. While it's not like the guy was a murderer who got locked up, he's still not had a great track record while in jail, and THAT is what the parole board considers.
Now that he's gone two years without incident, the parole board will have more of a basis for releasing him - he's not much of a risk to society anymore. That's not a guarantee that he will get out. The point is that they have to decide based on his incarcerated behavior whether or not to let him go. The original sentence is not their concern, given the fact that he was eligible for parole the whole time.
Now perhaps you'll actually READ WHAT I AM SAYING and drop it. I think he should be let go. I have never said otherwise. I agree a life sentence for a $140 TV is absurd. That has never been in question, unlike what you want to attribute to me. However, my point all along was that if it was only the TV, and he'd had a sterling prison track record, he'd have likely been gone LONG ago. Only RECENTLY has he been on good behavior, so only recently would the parole board have good cause to let him go. My original point was that there had to be something more here to keep him in jail, and THIS IS FACT. OVER SIXTY OFFENSES WHILE IN PRISON IS A FACT.
So stop judging me based on some sort of fallacy you're attributing to me or your blatant anti-American bias. Read what I've said and get over it.</div>
"For one thing to live, another thing must be killed. God, or whoever is responsible, deserves respect for creating such a system. It reveals that we cannot take all matters into our own hands. We need only to focus on doing our best--a simple, yet profound way to live, is it not?"