[CornFed]

Just wanted to emphasize that all of those people were charged with felonies.  I'm not sure what you mean when you suggest that their situations differed from Jonathan's because they were "in the system".  I think the differentiation derives from the specific treatments available to those suffering purely emotional/ psychological afflictions vs. the possibility of directly treating the addiction.  The courts may be more comfortable (or accustomed) to the trade-off between prison and treatment when it relates to substance abuse.  Or not.  Maybe it is equally true of schitzophenia or other severe forms of psychological struggles.  I don't really know on that side of the issue.

[CornFed]

Just wanted to emphasize that all of those people were charged with felonies.  I'm not sure what you mean when you suggest that their situations differed from Jonathan's because they were "in the system".  I think the differentiation derives from the specific treatments available to those suffering purely emotional/ psychological afflictions vs. the possibility of directly treating the addiction.  The courts may be more comfortable (or accustomed) to the trade-off between prison and treatment when it relates to substance abuse.  Or not.  Maybe it is equally true of schitzophenia or other severe forms of psychological struggles.  I don't really know on that side of the issue.