2008 Woodie Awards
Glad to see justice served in church arson case
Jason Shepard
Opinion Editor
Issue date: 4/16/07 Section: Opinion
At first when I heard the news that Ben Moseley, Russell DeBusk and Matthew Lee Cloyd were handed down lengthy sentences for their role in burning down churches in rural Alabama, I almost felt sorry for them.
All three were young men who came from relatively conformtable backgrounds and had good futures ahead of them. Moseley and DeBusk were both sophomores at Birmingham-Southern College. Cloyd was a junior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Now all that they looked forward to in life is gone. Moseley and DeBusk were sentenced to eight years and one month in federal prison, and Cloyd was sentenced to seven years. All three were ordered to pay $3.1 million in restitution to the churches. That was just for the federal charges.
Under a plea agreement with the state, the three were sentenced to 15-year prison terms, but they will only serve two years of these terms after their release from federal custody. Cloyd and Moseley still face prosecution for fires set in Greene, Pickens and Sumter counties four days after the initial spring. Cloyd did not participate in these additional burnings.
My sympathy I felt for the trio only lasted a moment. Just because these three were kids with a lot of potential that was thrown away by a mistake in their youth is no reason to discount such a heinous crime.
What they did was beyond the scope of a stupid mistake, and there was nothing in their circumstances that would make such a crime excusable - not that a church burning would ever be excusable.
What made things worse was the reason that they gave for the church burnings. To them it was a joke that got out of hand. The fact that someone could even think of burning down a church as a joke only further shows their total disregard for the value of human effort and sacrifice. I guess it is hard for someone that never had to develop a sense of hard work or sacrifice to actually appreciate these things.
Instead many young people in similar positions of relative comfort develop a sense of entitlement. They feel that the world owes them a place of prestige simply for going through the motions and that nothing can take this away from them.
With this feeling of unfettered entitlement, burning down churches as a prank doesn't seem that unreasonable. Their actions were simply that of spoiled kids with nothing better to do with their time. To them, the church burnings were just the next step on a ladder of childish pranks after rolling houses, egging cars and smashing in people's mailboxes.
I find it hard to sympathize with such a person. I am glad to know that justice was served.
All three were young men who came from relatively conformtable backgrounds and had good futures ahead of them. Moseley and DeBusk were both sophomores at Birmingham-Southern College. Cloyd was a junior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Now all that they looked forward to in life is gone. Moseley and DeBusk were sentenced to eight years and one month in federal prison, and Cloyd was sentenced to seven years. All three were ordered to pay $3.1 million in restitution to the churches. That was just for the federal charges.
Under a plea agreement with the state, the three were sentenced to 15-year prison terms, but they will only serve two years of these terms after their release from federal custody. Cloyd and Moseley still face prosecution for fires set in Greene, Pickens and Sumter counties four days after the initial spring. Cloyd did not participate in these additional burnings.
My sympathy I felt for the trio only lasted a moment. Just because these three were kids with a lot of potential that was thrown away by a mistake in their youth is no reason to discount such a heinous crime.
What they did was beyond the scope of a stupid mistake, and there was nothing in their circumstances that would make such a crime excusable - not that a church burning would ever be excusable.
What made things worse was the reason that they gave for the church burnings. To them it was a joke that got out of hand. The fact that someone could even think of burning down a church as a joke only further shows their total disregard for the value of human effort and sacrifice. I guess it is hard for someone that never had to develop a sense of hard work or sacrifice to actually appreciate these things.
Instead many young people in similar positions of relative comfort develop a sense of entitlement. They feel that the world owes them a place of prestige simply for going through the motions and that nothing can take this away from them.
With this feeling of unfettered entitlement, burning down churches as a prank doesn't seem that unreasonable. Their actions were simply that of spoiled kids with nothing better to do with their time. To them, the church burnings were just the next step on a ladder of childish pranks after rolling houses, egging cars and smashing in people's mailboxes.
I find it hard to sympathize with such a person. I am glad to know that justice was served.
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