A Small Victory

Omigod, I do remember this case. The POS didn't die in prison? Sh*t.

This case hit me because Lisa was the same age as my daughter, Erin. Erin, who turns 23 in two, weeks, mother of twins Nikolas and Sean; a loving daughter with a flashing smile. What future was Lisa robbed of? The graduations she never participated in, the proms she never attended, the friends who never got to know her, the children that will never be ....

We have two attorneys exclusively assigned to our CAC (crimes against children) unit, and the cases that come across my desk still tear my heart out.

Yes, stare at J. Stop, go silent, turn on him and stare in disgust and hate.

May each day he breathes be one of torment.

And boycott his new TV show and its station. Or go down to the studio en masse and stare at him there.

I don't think there was a person alive at the time here on Long Island/NYC that didn't follow the case on a daily basis.

Very sad and should have been preventable. But since he was granted leave I hope he will wither away and remember everyday the evil he committed. If I was a gambling man I would say we will not see much of him anytime soon.

wait - he's getting on a tv show after all this?

sick sad world.

I don't know. Part of me says "don't give the man any more notoriety" and part of me really wishes that there was a studio audience on the show, and that EVERY SINGLE SHOW someone stands up and asks him: "How does it feel to be a child murderer?"

Maybe someone should post a list of the companies that sell commercials during this show's time slot, so everyone who's disgusted with the idea that a convicted murderer (who shows no remorse for what he did) could get on tv can let those companies know just what they're sponsoring...

Hmmm...the only good thing in this is his exact location.

Man, reading that whole long article from the legal library puts this all into perspective. It's not the monsters in Monsters Inc. that kids need to worry about. It's guys just like this, for whom they have to ask permission to eat and drink. At least she is in safe hands now, though I'm sure everyone agrees how sad it ever came to that.

I heard he got picked up from prison. In a limo.

What an incomparable ass.

I'm only about halfway through this story, but I can't believe Hedda received no punishment. I'm appalled frankly. I don't care if she was scared of him. She's almost as guilty as he is for not doing anything.

I tried to be sympathetic to her but when I got to this part, "Lisa had been prone on the bathroom floor for hours, unattended, while Joel Steinberg, fully aware that she was injured, went out to meet friends. Hedda stayed home alone with Mitchell, the 18-month-old baby, and waited. Never did she lift up the telephone to call for an ambulance, a friend, a neighbor, or anyone else. “Joel said he would take care of her, he would get her up when he got back,” Hedda later told the court through her tears, “and I didn’t want to show disloyalty or distrust to him, so I didn’t call.”"

Grow a pair, Hedda.

Joel Steinberg is, for me, one of the most disgusting murderers of the present day. I honestly wish that he had met the fate of Jeffery Dahmer and Richard Loeb and had been killed in prison. I know this desire is not charitable, but this man truly disgusts me. I think the world would be a better place without him.

And what about the people who are helping this creep? I don't understand these people. They should share in his torment.

While I lean left of center, the prison system and methods of justice are areas which I am DEFINITELY not left at all. In my opinion, anyone who takes away the rights of others should not be entitled to the same rights as any other law abiding citizen. PERIOD! So, the people who are helping him, well, they are part of the problem. They're certainly not part of the solution. Perhaps if our prison system was more of a PRISON, people wouldn't be getting out and stepping into limos. Fucking sad!!! This guy deserves everything he has given out in life. No more!

And the award for 'Understatement Of The Year' goes to JoAnn Paige, executive director of the 'Fortune Society':
"You've got a combination of pluses and minuses when you have somebody who has a good deal of professional training, but also a crime under his belt," said Paige. "A very bad crime."
('walks out of jail' link in blog post)

This is a double post but I wanted to put an opinion in this more up-to-date forum.

Unfortunately, this latest fiasco in what is laughably called the "Justice system" comes as no surprise. A country that would sentence an innocent 18 year old scholar student to at least 15 years in prison for having CONSENSUAL sexual relations with his girlfriend - re: Marcus Dixon - would also have no problem with releasing a PROVEN child abuser and murderer before his sentence had been served.
Justice is indeed blind.

Violence sickens me, but this kind of blatant injustice sickens me even more. I don't know what I would do if I saw Steinberg on the street and in thinking about it I realize that the evil in this man actually scares me...which pisses me off even more.

If he had any sense of accountability he would just disappear. That, or put a bullet in his head. Failing that, I am willing to put aside some of my strongly felt beliefs and pray to whatever powers that be that there is a Hell and that Steinberg will be spending the rest of eternity roasting in excruciating agony.

Something tells me Joel Shithead is pushing his luck staying in NYC, and with his real name. (No, I have no specific information. I just know NYers.)

Tessa

Understand that the "justice system" only enforces the statutes passed by the legislature, which is elected by us.

The bad, as well as the good, are ultimately our responsibility.

""Maybe someone should post a list of the companies that sell commercials during this show's time slot, so everyone who's disgusted with the idea that a convicted murderer (who shows no remorse for what he did) could get on tv can let those companies know just what they're sponsoring...""

Oh.. I like this plan:
"of a $250-a-week job at New York Confidential, a local public access cable television program.
""

Hmmm $250 a week to live on in New York City.. got to be someone suplimenting that.

His getting capped on the streets is (hopefully) inevitable. Good Day NY cracked me up this morning as they were covering his release. I'm looking at my wife and saying "too bad they can't tell us where he's going", as soon as I said it they announced "he's going to a halfway house in harlem. We're not sure if it's the one on 110th or 125th street". :0)

Just a matter of time for that repulsive bastard. I think Berkowitz would get a warmer reception in NYC.

Well damn, jailhouse justice didn't get him so I guess its up to some vigilante justice to extract retribution from this despicable and depraved bag of scum.

I don't think he's got much longer to live before someone pops him like the boil on humanity's ass that he is.

Do not touch him. Do not do him harm. Do not spit on him. Do not curse him aloud. Say nothing. Just stare.

I disagree--strenuously. New Yorkers, treat him as you would treat bin Laden were he found in your midst; his heart is as black as that of the master terrorist.

ANYONE who dares to give this guy ANY kind of a job deserves to be treated as a pariah. Give them the full treatment - pickets, boycotts, mass e-mailings to every one of their business partners, major customers, etc. Make anyone who touches the man feel severe economic pain. Seeing O.J back on television was sickening enough, but terrorizing and then killing a defenseless child is beyond words.

Darleen,

You are absolutely right and it is our responsibility. But sometimes the only choices we are given is a rock and a hard place. Just briefly, in the case of Mark Dixon the jury were blinkered and the option of "not guilty" was not even available.

I guess I just feel incredibly frustrated at these blatantly unfair outcomes.

Tessa -

The option to refuse to convict is always available. The court cannot force you to vote for guilt.

Sometime the juries need to, as Larry said earlier, grow a pair.

MY DAUGHTER IS 4 YEARS OLD , I COULD NEVER GET MAD AT HER ENOUGH TO BEAT HER !!!!!!!!! THIS MAN IS A SCUMBAG . HE DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE FREE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND AT THAT HAVE A JOB HOSTING A TV SHOW . SHAME ON TIME WARNER CABLE AND THE LOWLIFE UNCOMPASSIONATE PERSON THAT HIRED HIM . I WOULD NEVER EVER EVER WATCH A SHOW HOSTED BY A BABY KILLER. A BABY KILLER FREE !!!!!!! SHOWS HOW OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM WORKS . I AM OUTRAGED AND SICK OVER THIS . HOW DOES SOMEONE BEAT A LITTLE GIRL AND GET MANSLAUGHTER ISN'T THAT MURDER .????? YES IT IS . STEINBERG PROBABLY DOESNT HAVE THE BALLS ( AMNHOOD) TO PICK ON SOMEONE HIS OWN SIZE SO TAKE IT OUT ON A BABY .. YOU ARE DISGUSTING . I WOULD LOVE TO LET ALL THE PARENTS BE IN A ROOM ALONE WITH YOU FOR 5 MINS SO YOU COULD FEEL THE PAIN THAT YOU INFLICTED ON THAT POOR DEFENSLESS CHILD . YOU ARE TRULY A PEICE OF CRAP AND YOU WILL GET YOURS ... I HATE YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do not disagree that the rest of Joel Steinberg's existence on earth should be hell. But I must tell you that the real tradegy here is that nothing has changed. Everyday we read something about a childs demise and nothing changes. We slap there hands and yes to me 17 years for a childs life is a slap on the wrist. If you really want to see travesties like this cease. Do something about it. Write your congressman-your senator the damn president. For until we make laws that deter this type of thing nothing will change. This child was helpless. Her mother stood by. In my eyes he should have suffered the same fate as Little Lisa and Hedda should never see the light of day.
As for Miss Launders you have my deepest sympathies. You put your child up for adoption in good faith and the "system" let you down. I pray that you find solace in that Lisa is with her maker now.
Sleep well Little sister and may people now realize what needs to be done.
Steve

Mister Stinberg is obviously very dangere espacially for children. When I saw Lisa's picture I saw a little girl who never had a chance against the brutality, neglect and ultimate destruction by two people whose callousness and parental abdication became symbolic of child abuse in America. Lisa had been prone on the bathroom floor for hours, unattended, while Joel Steinberg, fully aware that she was injured, went out to meet friends.
I have no words to describe Mister Steinberg's brutality. What that really means " good behaviour in prison"? That means that he could be nice but he didn' t want. That means that he advisedly chose to be violent. I am afraid that he would find another weak women and he would find another abandoned child. Please, do not release him. He is not deserve be free.

I was a high school student was Lisa Steinberg was murdered. I remember hearing about this tragedy in class, and then reading a horrific article detailing the last days of her life in PEOPLE Magazine. I am shocked and appaled that Joel Steinberg has been permitted to live and breathe among the decent citizen's of NYC again. This monster should have never been set free - this in an injustice to Lisa's memory. That poor innocent child was at the mercy of that beast, with no power and no control over her destiny. But WE have power. WE have a supposed legal system that is in place to protect (or so I thought). WE should be able to keep this worthless piece of trash off our streets, out of our neighborhoods, and off of our TV sets. Seventeen years in prison is no exchange for the life of a child. He now has freedom and a TV show - Lisa has a headstone. The television station that was crass enough to give this idiot a show would feel differently if they were Michelle Launders or her family.