New York’s disastrous approach to criminal justice has fueled crime and put the public at risk, yet it’s also hurt the very people it’s meant to help: perps. For proof, look no further than at Isaac Rodriguez, a k a the “Man of Steal.”
As The Post’s Griffin Kelly reports in an eye-opening interview, Rodriguez — who was finally locked up in January after a mind-blowing 46 shoplifting arrests — actually credits prison with saving his life.
“This is a blessing in disguise. I know that I wasn’t going to be sober if I was still out there,” Rodriguez admitted. “I would’ve died sooner or later.”
The 23-year-old thief had been raiding store after store, filling bags with merchandise and then selling it on the street or to pawn shops for drug money. Yet he walked repeatedly after being nabbed, which only emboldened him. Sir Isaac Lootin’ even brags that, despite 46 arrests, he “got away” with “a lot more” thefts than that.
Backers of the reforms — such as the 2019 bail-law “fix” that lets perps walk free with no need to post bail — argue that incarceration “criminalizes” poverty, that people steal only because they’re too poor to pay for essentials. Rodriguez proves that tragically wrongheaded: Not only was he stealing to get drug cash, he only got clean after losing his freedom.
“Stealing was the only way I knew to get money fast to tend to my habit,” he says. Now, after months behind bars, he says he’s a “changed man”: He’ll get his GED diploma and forswear crime after his release in seven months.
If progressives really want to help steer criminals and addicts toward self-sustaining lifestyles, they shouldn’t be pushing to free those who commit crimes, no questions asked, but for prison terms — especially those that include rehab and other programs to help convicts turn their lives around. You can’t offer carrots with no sticks.
On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams blasted New York’s criminal-justice system as a “laughingstock,” noting that “bad guys” no longer take laws “seriously.” He was fuming over the endless shootings that have wreaked havoc and claimed lives, as lenient judges and prosecutors continue to free perps.
As Rodriguez’s case shows, jailing them instead can not only limit crime but also get criminals on a better path. It’s a win-win that progressives refuse to see.
