THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 21, 1995 TAG: 9501200027
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
I have always been of the impression that the Associated Press was bound by the same rules of impartiality as the rest of the media - that is until I read its ``story'' (more akin to an advertisement) regarding the early release of a multiple armed robber, Suzanne Kennon (news, Jan. 10).
That article began by describing Ms. Kennon as ``an upper-middle-class housewife.'' This was an obvious attempt to get the reader to either identify with the subject, or at least to picture her as the woman across the breakfast table from the reader.
The AP should recognize that most upper-middle-class housewives do not have two-thirds of their children out of wedlock, become addicted to illegal drugs, commit ``eight-day robbery sprees'' nor live anywhere near the lifestyle of Sue Kennon.
If that reference to Ms. Kinnon had been the only lopsided feature of the article, I might have been able to overlook the ``reporter's'' obvious bias. But the quote from the Corrections educator, which implied that keeping Kennon imprisoned (after she had attained a college degree in prison) was a waste of taxpayers' money, was simply too much!
As a taxpayer and underpaid civil servant, I wonder which is more wasteful - keeping her imprisoned for four ``little robberies,'' or spending my tax dollars to educate her in the first place! And now she's going for her master's degree.
Where do I send my contribution to help. (Oh, never mind, my state and federal tax forms just arrived to answer that query.)
I have no quarrel with Suzanne Kennon the person, the mother or the former housewife. I have a real problem with Kennon the armed robber being educated at my expense and then having that very education used as an argument for her early release. Is it any wonder that citizens are fed up with the way that criminal ``justice'' folks do business?
What happened to, ``If you can't do the time, then don't do the crime''? Now there's something educational!
A. C. BLACK, JR.
Chesapeake, Jan. 11, 1995 by CNB