Too Old For Jail ?

This is an unusual story. It seems that a court in Taiwan has sentenced a 96 year-old man to three months in jail. But when the convicted man showed up at the jail to serve his sentence, the jail refused to accept him. They sent him back to the prosecutor's office, saying he would not be able to look after himself in jail.

What horrible crime did this elderly man commit? Did he steal from someone, or commit a violent act that couldn't be ignored? Not at all. He was convicted of "squatting". He was convicted of occupying a dormitory of his former employer -- Taiwan's National Railway Administration.

96 year-old Sun Hsin-ming denied the charge, saying, "The court is in a mess and won't listen to reason. I am really angry. I haven't done anything wrong." The prosecutor's office says they are now going to send him to a prison hospital ward in Taichung to serve his sentence.

I seldom have any sympathy for criminals of any age. If you commit a crime, you should be ready to serve the appropriate time for that offense. However, I really don't think this problem is going to be solved by sending the elderly man to jail.

Even after he serves his time, the problem will not be solved. The real problem is not that this man is a criminal, but that he has no place to live. Instead of jailing the elderly man, the government should have just found a place for him to live out his few remaining years (or months).

A country is to be judged by how it treats its most helpless citizens -- the children and the elderly. The decision to jail this man instead of trying to help him doesn't make Taiwan look very good.