The Cautionary Tale of Jabrie Bennett

Jabrie Bennett was sentenced to 72 years to life in prison for the murder of Kenneth Seets, today. During his trial, Bennett, in an attempt to vindicate himself, declared that his shooting Seets was "an accident". A big oops moment, basically. Needless to say, the trial didn't go well for Bennett, and ended with the judge noting that it was sheer, dumb luck that the nine other shots he fired off that day didn't kill nine other people. Justice was served... to everyone but Bennett's lawyer.

I won't dignify him by using his name, so let's just call him Lawyer. Lawyer declared that Bennett's sentence "stunned and disturbed" him and that it was "an inconceivable sentence for a 19-year old". Yes, ladies and gentleman, Lawyer found it unbelievable that a young man who carried a concealed weapon, which he then took out and fired with reckless abandon ten times that day, which resulted in the death of an innocent bystander, shouldn't be put in jail for the rest of his life. The same man who summed up his actions as being "an accident", nothing more. The only outrage is that his sentence isn't longer.

I followed this story with more than a little bit of curiosity, as I frequent Bayfair BART, just like a lot of other San Leandrans do. Seets could have been me. Or you. Or a friend. Or a relative. Or anyone else who was unfortunate enough to be in the scattershot line of fire of this raving lunatic. When I hear people like Lawyer in any way try to downplay how unacceptable this behavior is, it sickens me. A man died because of Bennett's complete disregard for human life. Whether he was 18, 27, or 40 when he killed Seets is inconsequential; a killer is a killer.

This is the society we live in, though. Condemnation is not in vogue in the America of 2014. Instead, we're supposed to nod our heads and agree when lawyers try to rationalize that a 72 year prison sentence is unreasonable because, gee, the killer is only 19! Rather than turn around and ask what sort of home produces a 19-year old man who thinks it's a good idea to have wild west gunfights at BART stations, there's an overwhelming urge by people to blame everyone but the criminal.

It's a bad habit that needs to stop. Sometimes, people do bad things, and as a result, they're punished for it. Sometimes, the bad decisions that people make are the fault of no one but themselves. Bennett might have been let down by his family, and he might be a young man, but he made the choices that brought him to his fate today, and the only person he can blame is himself. The thugs of the Bay Area have been given enough leeway and sympathy. It's time for them to start seeing people like Bennett thrown in jail and realize that the lifestyle they lead isn't right. So, no, Lawyer, Bennett's sentence was more than conceivable; it was necessary.