Santa Fe Bashers to get No Prison Time

(Santa Fe, New Mexico) The two men labeled ringleaders in a gang attack on two gay men more than a year ago in Santa Fe will not be going to prison a New Mexico judge has ruled.

State District Judge Michael Vigil said that he believed Isaia Medina, 20, and Gabriel Maturin, 21, could be rehabilitated.

“You both would be ruined if I sent you to prison,” Vigil told the pair at a sentencing hearing on Friday. “I would be throwing you away. I don’t want to do that.”

Vigil ordered them to serve 90 days in the Santa Fe County jail. They will then be subject to a year of house arrest and be required to return to the jail on weekends.

At the end of the year they will be on five years of probation and must perform 500 hours of community service.

During that time they will take a mandatory course on tolerance, and must work with PFLAG to present classes on equality and tolerance at area schools.

Vigil’s sentence also requires the pair to make restitution to the victims of the attack, James Maestas, 22, and Joshua Stockham, 24.

“Both of you can do a whole lot to help mend this community for this horrible act,” Vigil said. (source)

Is this justice? I guess I shouldn’t make the judgments because I wasn’t there. They are making restitution to the victims of the attack, although, from going through the experience myself, I honestly don’t know what they can give back to the victims to take away the psychological damage caused by this. The victims of this crime will carry that around with them for the rest of their lives. Making financial restitution for medical expenses is the easy part. You have a price tag for that.

What is the price tag for making the nightmares go away? That’s what they should be paying for. I would say that in prison, the attackers would be given their own set of nightmares to deal with, but that would just make me sound vengeful and, would it really help anyone?

You can’t fight hatred with hatred, and at what point does “justice” become “hatred”?

As one commenter put it....

Anyone who wants to know why gay people have their own rodeos, congregate in their own communities, etc., etc. : this is why. Because they can’t trust mainstream society to offer them the same protections being offered to non-gays. If these men had beat up a young girl or young straight man, they’d have been given severe sentences.

So much for “justice for all”. (source)

More in depth report on this from the New Mexican.

Related Articles
March 2, 2005 - Hate Crime in Santa Fe
March 3, 2005 - Man beaten in gay bashing clings to life