2006 Day Fire, CA which burned 163000 acres.A California homeless man, suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, depression and alcoholism, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank to 45 months in prison. He was also ordered to pay more than $101 million in restitution for starting two fires; the 2006 Day Fire and the 2002 Ellis Fire.
The Day Fire raged for more than a month and cost more than $78 million to suppress while injuring 18 people, and destroying 11 structures.
The Ellis Fire burned 70 acres.
The Judge said "The fact that in 2006 he engaged in virtually the same conduct as in 2002 shows extreme recklessness."
Soap Box Ravings is glad the man, identified as Steven Emory Butcher, was in fact a homeless man suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, depression and alcoholism. He could have been a US Senator and took the country for mega-millions.
However, when Soap Box Ravings worked with the substance abuse counselors in the US Navy he learned that you could not trust, for example, an alcoholic on a binge to make a rational decision. You had to take control of them, dry them out and then see if they could make intelligent rational decisions. Some still could not.
Soap Box Ravings can not help but wonder how a gifted federal judge could determine reckless behavior from a person suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, depression and alcoholism. It kinda sorta looks like the wrong ruler was used to measure the miscreant's behavior.
Soap Box Ravings can't help but wonder if this Judge was focused on the U.S. Senator's who fed off of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac what she would have sentenced them to repay.
