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Ryn Gargulinski

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prison

Would you hire a convicted felon to babysit your kids?

Convicted felons, for some reason, have a bad reputation.

It may be because they’ve been, well, convicted of a felony. Felonies run the gamut from murder to drug possession, theft to child prostitution.

Royzell Williams/AZ DOC photo
Royzell Williams/AZ DOC photo

Arizona law suspends a host of civil rights from convicted felons. They can no longer vote, can’t hold public office positions and are banned from owning a gun. They automatically get out of jury duty. They can forget about working as a sheriff’s deputy or cop.

But convicted felons can be hired into a state position unless their felony “has a reasonable relationship to the functions” of what they are hired to do.

In other words, it wouldn’t be wise to hire a person convicted of child prostitution to run a day care agency or babysit your kids.

While some of us may want to give people the benefit of the doubt until they prove us wrong – not unlike that “innocent until proven guilty” theory – some folks just can’t be trusted.

Two cases popped up recently in Pinal County where convicted felons who had been hired by the county government screwed up royally.

Albert Robbs, 51, who served prison time for theft, was hired by the County Recorder’s office into a position where he had complete access to county residents’ checking account numbers, credit card information and social security numbers.

Albert Robbs/AZ DOC photo
Albert Robbs/AZ DOC photo

Guess what? Robbs stole checks that came into the office and handed them over to one of his three partners-in-crime to buy drugs, according to Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.

“It’s not surprising he was subsequently arrested and indicted for identity theft and assisting in a criminal syndicate,” Babeu said in his August newsletter.

Royzell Williams, 46, who served time for theft, drug possession and sale of drugs, was hired as a bailiff in Pinal County Superior Court.

“Just last week, he was arrested, booked and charged with accepting bribes in exchange for attempting to influence the outcome of cases before the Superior Court,” Babeu said.

That’s some pretty heavy duty stuff.

Both guys were hired fresh out of prison. Both guys were given the benefit of the doubt. Both guys made the sheriff angry enough to demand a ban on hiring convicted felons into Pinal County government positions.

“These situations serve as strong examples of why we should ban the hiring of convicted felons,” Babeu said. “Leaders in our government have knowingly hired convicted felons, who have used their public offices to commit serious crimes. Hiring officials allowed their personal relationships or other considerations color their judgment when it comes to hiring decisions.”

I’ve seen convicted felons who are honestly trying to turn their lives around and cringe every time they have to fill out that little box on employment applications: “Have you ever been convicted of a felony? Please explain.”

I’ve also seen convicted felons who dabble at making a better life, realize it’s a major pain to follow the law, at least for them, and plunge back into the “easy” life of crime.

Some, too, pretend to be on the up-and-up while they have no intention of doing anything other than falling back into their old habits.

Would I hire a convicted felon to weed my yard?
Sure. As long as he stayed outside.

Paint my house?
Maybe. Depends on the conviction. And as long as he didn’t see where my diamonds, emeralds and rubies were stashed.

Watch my dogs?
Not in your life.

wb-logolil16What do you think?

Is banning convicted felons from government employment too harsh?

Should they all be given a second chance?

Have you had any positive/negative experiences hiring, befriending or marrying a convicted felon?

Filed Under: blogski, crime, danger, death, gross stuff, life, police, fire, law, politics, stupidity Tagged With: albert robbs, az doc, child prostitution, convicted felons, danger, drugs, felony, gross, murder, paul babeu, pinal county, prison, rape, royzell williams, rynski's blogski, sheriff, theft, twisted

Fascinating facts about the death penalty

Arizona hits the top of list twice for fascinating death penalty facts – once for ripping off a woman’s head and again for being the last state to use the gas chamber.

Illustration by Ryn Gargulinski
Illustration by Ryn Gargulinski

In addition to being featured in a movie I watched last night, the death penalty came up twice this morning. It surfaced as the possible punishment for the driver of the van that crashed and killed 11 illegal immigrants and again as a desired punishment for the alleged killer of the 7-year-old Ajo girl.

I’ve usually been behind the death penalty, although I have to agree with the comment from one astute reader who said: “I have yet to see a victim return to their former state of health by killing the killer.”

Whether you are for or against the death penalty is not the point of this post. The point is to share some compelling death row facts.

Talking about the death penalty also seemed more fun than rewriting another press release. So here we go:

Hanging:

Hanging was the preferred method of execution in Arizona until 1930, when it was outlawed following a mishap. Prisoner Eva Dugan was taken to the gallows where she was dropped down to hang and her head popped off.

Firing range:

Contrary to popular belief, the person about to be executed doesn’t get to stand against a wall with a jazzy blindfold on. He is instead seated, with his head and waist strapped to the chair. He is outfitted with a hood, has a little cloth target stuck to his chest right above his heart and is surrounded by sand bags to absorb the blood as five guys take shots at him with rifles.

Electric chair:

Electric chairs blast people with anywhere between 500 and 2000 volts. A subway system’s third rail averages around 700 volts. Those executed by the electric chair are outfitted with a diaper because they inevitably soil their pants.

Gas chamber:

The first gas chamber experiment failed because executioners didn’t realize they would need the chamber part. Nevada executioners in 1924 tried to pump cyanide into Gee Jon’s cell to kill him, but the thing wasn’t airtight and he kept on ticking. Thus the chamber was constructed.

Arizona was the last state to use the gas chamber in an execution, although it is available as an alternative method in others, with the death of Walter LaGrand in 1999.

Lethal injection:

While lethal injection is the most preferred current mode of execution, it does have its problems. Since doctors are not allowed to perform executions (it’s not ethical), the folks sticking the needles into the prisoner often miss the vein and hit a muscle, causing a big delay and a lot of pain.

Others who are being executed have damaged veins that are hard to find, thanks to years of intravenous drug abuse, again delaying the process.

Much of this information was found at: Michigan State University and Death Penalty Information Center

Do you know any fascinating death row facts? Please share them by commenting below.

What would you pick as your last meal?

Filed Under: blogski, crime, danger, death, gross stuff, police, fire, law Tagged With: death penalty, death row, electric chair, execution, firing range, gas chamber, hanging, killed, killer, lethal injection, old sparky, prison, sand bags

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