I'm not promoting no punishment but why does the first woman get 7-9 months in prision for stealing $50-$100 yet the board of elections person stole more than $6K ... despite making $52K a year...and got a suspended sentence with probation? Maybe the young mother in the first case has a prior record. Just makes me wonder if the punshiment reflects the mood of the judge on a given day.
Prior criminal activity usually plays a HUGE part in determining whether someone should serve an active sentence or not. Even for a felony (such as felony larceny, embezzlement, etc), it is extremely rare that someone serves active prison time for a first offense.
