I have always been under the impression that stealing was a bad thing.  My parents told me it was, my grandparents to me it was and my teachers told me it was.  To be honest, even without all the warnings from those around me, it still is common sense to me that taking something that doesn’t belong to you is bad.  All it leads to is jail, lawyers and bail bondsmen.  But agreeing that stealing is bad is not the issue…the big issue is determining the appropriate punishment and ultimately teaching someone accountability for their actions.

If you remember a few weeks ago, we posted a story about a young boy whose father made him stand on the street corner holding a sign that said, “I am a thief, I stole from my family…” While most people might think that this is a cruel and unusual punishment for a child, the reality is that the young boy will probably never steal again.  Jump forward a bit to last week in Iowa.  A woman, who was convicted of stealing $537,000 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, was released after only 70 days in jail.  Yes, I said 70 days.  I don’t know about you, but that seems a little ridiculous to me.  Do you think this woman learned her lesson in 70 days?  Do you think that 70 day is enough time to hold her accountable for her crime? I don’t know the answer, but it seems to me that 10 years should be 10 years and not 70 days.  Maybe that young boy should let her borrow his sign so she can stand on the corner and let the world know what she did…maybe then, she will learn a lesson.  What do you think?

Read the original story below.

Original article:  Iowa woman serves only 70 days of 10-year jail sentence for $537K theft