Ma’Lik Richmond served the time he was sentenced to. He should have been
sentenced longer of course, but he wasn’t. We have a broken system. That said,
once someone serves their time they get to continue to live their lives, and in
this case that means go back to finish high school and play
football.
Yes, Richmond will be a registered sex offender for the next 20 years,
having to register every six months. He appealed to have that status dropped,
but it was denied. I agree it makes me uncomfortable to know that this boy is
going back to the same support group that enabled his behavior in the first
place. That said, we shouldn’t be able to punish people indefinitely when that
is not what is required by law. Additionally, he is a kid, a child. Does he
never get to start over?
I believe we need to increase the penalties for people convicted of rape.
I also believe we need massive reform of the criminal justice system. But we
are bound by the system we have, and Richmond served his time. If we’re going
to rise up and demand justice, I don’t think Richmond should be the target. No,
the target should be the militarized police that just open fire on black men.
