Junior Allen

Long and sad 1A story in the N&O about a man named Junior Allen who was convicted of second-degree burglary 35 years ago and is only now getting out of jail. That does seem like pretty stiff punishment, but here is the money quote, "Allen was convicted of second-degree burglary -- a crime that could bring a life sentence then but nowadays draws no more than three years in prison."

So I went from feeling sorry for this guy to wondering how second-degree burglary can only bring, at most, three years in prison (meaning the average sentence is much less). Not sure if that is progress with our judicial system.