Criminals and Redemption

In The Joys of Yiddish, Leo Rosten defines chutzpah as the unmitigated gall, best illustrated by the example of a criminal defendant who has killed his mother and father, then throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan. Yesterday's new York Times featured the stories of two criminals who bring chutzpah to new heights. As criminals go, each one of these men was accomplished.

Arthur Williams was 63 years old. He died when he lost control of the car he was driving in a high-speed police chase. At the time of his death, Williams reportedly had at least 134 convictions in the State of New York. He was imprisoned more or less continuously, between 1975 and 2009. The most recent release was granted , Williams suffered from emphysema and diabetes and was undergoing dialysis. He assured the parole board that he would not commit any more crimes, because it would kill him. Williams was married and moved to Alabama with his wife. He borrowed money from the Family Loan Company and made payments in person, but then, he robbed the place. The last spree involved a trip from Alabama to New York. Reconstruction of the trip showed that, prior to robbing a store on Madison Avenue, Williams had been in the vicinity of his childhood home in Hamilton Heights, New York, where his mother, aged 92, still lives. A dutiful son visiting his mom, perhaps?

Colton Harris-Moore is 19 years old. He gained renown as 'the barefoot bandit.' In comparison to Mr. Williams, Harris-Moore was incredibly sophisticated. In addition to robbing houses, Harris-Moore is accused of having stolen GPS navigation systems, laptop computers and airplanes. Harris-Moore, a 9th grade drop-out, was apprehended in the Bahamas on a stolen motor boat. Harris-Moore had spent two years on the run after an escape from a juvenile half-way house. One wonders at the contribution of his upbringing to this scenario. A sign outside the road leading to his mother's trailer says "Notice, if you go past this sign you will be shot." Neighbors reported that Pam Kohler, Harris-Moore's mother, does, in fact, shoot. Though neighbors reported that Harris-Moore continually sought parental substitutes he nonetheless stayed in continual contact with his mother while a fugitive. Mother and son were reported to have been in contact over the past two years, and the mother encouraged her son to go to a country that didn't have an extradition treaty with the United States. Just like a teen to disregard his mother's instruction.

Though they are both criminals, Williams and Harris-Moore are very different. Williams seems more of a lost soul. His mother is said to have remembered her son as a man who served G-d. Harris-Moore, on the other-hand, is a young man who was not served by our system. Child Protective services was involved with the family when Harris-Moore was a child. Redemption was obviously never possible for Williams. He threatened victims, but never hurt anyone. Perhaps he was essentially well meaning but addicted to something beyond his control. Harris-Moore is clearly brilliant and misguided. Hopefully the system will offer him a means toward redemption so that he can become a productive member of society. Clearly, he has the capacity. The example set by his mother, however, provides support for an argument in favor of requiring potential parents to become licensed before they produce a child.