Go Directly to...School

We have now met The $6 Bandit three times. The first time we met, he robbed us at gunpoint. The second time we met, he was in jail. The third time, we were all in court for a sentencing hearing. Both sides asked us for input and they got the following:


Your honor, my wife and I would like to thank you for the opportunity to be here today to make a statement. We would also like to thank the court for the opportunity we had to visit Mr. Hyman in jail. We understand that that was an opportunity not afforded to many people.

The first time we met Mr. Hyman, he made quite an impression. My wife and I and a neighbor were standing in the middle of our street, under a street light, wishing a good friend goodbye as she was headed off to Darfur to work with war refugees. Then Mr. Hyman approached us, wearing a ski mask and carrying a semi-automatic hand gun, and demanded money. When we moved to slowly, he threatened to shoot one of us. Our friend was able to find $6, which he took and walked away yelling at us not to call the police.

That evening changed the way we live. He stole $6. We now pay $36 a month for a security system. We have pepper spray on the night stand, by the front door, and on my wife’s key chain, next to the panic button, just in case we are approached in front of our house again. We carefully look at who is on the block before we stop the car and get out to go inside. I work hard to get home in the evening before my wife so she doesn’t need to come in alone. When guests ask if the neighborhood is safe, we look at each other and try and figure out what to say.

The second time we met Mr. Hyman, this time in jail, he also made quite an impression. Where he had appeared violent and demanding behind a mask and gun, he now appeared meek and uncertain. He actually seemed a bit intimidated by our presence. As we talked, it became clear that this was a person who felt very disconnected from almost everyone around him. He wanted to be more than he was, but he was having a hard time doing it. The institution, namely DCPS, that was charged with spending 12 years giving him the skills to have chance at being a productive participant in society, had managed only to bring him up to first grade reading level and a fifth grade math level. He was left to face the job market without being able to read an application, or even simple signs.

This does not excuse Mr. Hyman’s actions last March. He made some bad choices that night. It was clear to us when we met that he understood that what he did was very wrong. He seems genuinely sorry for what he did. After talking for nearly an hour and sharing our experiences, he asked us for forgiveness. As people who have been forgiven many times ourselves, we offered our forgiveness to him. But in the real world, forgiving isn’t forgetting. Actions need to have consequences …and that is obviously why we are here today.

Your honor, after a lot of reflection and many conversations…with Mr. Hyman, with counsel on both sides, and with the social worker and education representative…we would like to ask humbly, but with some urgency, that today you give Mr. Hyman a chance to make something of himself. We would like to ask that for his sake, for our sake, and for the sake of the community. For his sake, your honor, because he wants to do better. And with the right help, we think he may be able to become a productive member of society. But if he does not get help very soon, he likely won’t ever get help.

And for our sake, your honor. If he does not get help…education, vocational training, and supervision…he is likely to become less productive, not more. If he spends much time in prison around hardened criminals and gets back on the street after that, we, or our neighbors, may meet him again, but that time the gun may be something more than broken BB gun. And we don’t want to see that happen.

We would like to ask, you honor, that give him a somewhat stiffer sentence than you might otherwise. But that you would suspend that sentence upon completion of closely supervised probation, and all the specialized education and vocational training that Ms. Buckingham and her colleagues can arrange. Further, you honor, we would ask that if he completes all these programs, his record would be wiped clean so that he is able face the job market with as good a chance as he can get.

We admit that we aren’t sure if he can complete these programs. But with the people in this courtroom, including us, pulling for him, and with a prison term as his next best option, we are hopeful.

So in closing, your honor, we’d like ask that you would do everything in your power to get Mr. Hyman into school, not prison, as soon as humanly possible.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
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After our statement, the judge gave him a pretty good lecture, then sentenced him to five years in prison. But he then suspended the sentence upon completion of a long list; education, training, numerous evaluations and various other programs. We're hopeful that he'll be in school soon. And that if we meet him again, he won't be wearing a ski mask or an orange jumpsuit!