We’ve seen it way too many times, almost always in “progressive” areas: criminal commits horrible crime, criminal pays little in terms of consequences (and many times goes on to commit more violence and mayhem).
What do you get under such a system? More crime.
For instance, you’d think if you went out to attack people for their race, and you ended up maiming a person by bashing them over the head, that you’d never see anything but concrete walls and iron bars for the rest of your life. But that’s not always the case in deep blue California:
NEW: A homeless man who murdered another sleeping homeless man in Santa Monica in 2023 by bashing his skull in with a metal pipe has been given diversion, and will see no prison time. He had also been charged w/ a hate crime & attacked two other people.https://t.co/mSoiGNLvc7
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 17, 2025
According to reports, the crime was particularly gruesome:
A homeless man who traveled to Santa Monica to attack Black residents has been sent to a diversion program instead of facing a criminal trial that could have resulted in a life sentence for the attempted murder of a sleeping victim.
Job Uriah Taylor (27) was arrested on March 3, 2023 after using a pipe to crush the skull of a man who was sleeping in the same encampment adjacent to the 5th Street Expo station. The vicious and unprovoked attack was the last of three committed by Taylor in about a day and while the other two victims escaped unharmed, the final victim, Christian Hornburg, was confined to a wheelchair and will require support services for the rest of his life.
It’s not necessarily a shock that this occurred in Santa Monica, once considered a crown jewel of the Golden State, because it’s been experiencing a surge of violence in recent years despite its pricey real estate.
Read More: Santa Monica Anti-Crime Activist Assaulted by Methheads, Left With Concussion and Broken Jaw
You’d think that his actions and the consequent felony charges should have been enough to lock him away forever:
Taylor’s case had been proceeding through the criminal system where he faced charges of attempted murder, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon (not a firearm) and one count of assault with a deadly weapon with force, resulting in great bodily injury. His crimes had been charged with a hate crime enhancement as Taylor was heard shouting racial slurs at his victims during the attack and immediately following his arrest he claimed he had been sent to Santa Monica by his family to target Black residents
But no, he had mental problems, you see. (Of course he had mental problems—he smashed someone’s head in!)
However, with the suspect’s record of mental issues, including bipolar and schizoaffective disorder, together with a record of drug abuse, primarily heroin and methamphetamine, the defense was attempting to argue that Taylor would be better served in an alternate program.
So now he gets to live in “permanent supportive housing” provided by the Office of Diversion and Reentry. Come on, man.
“Justice was not done today. In 30 years as a deputy district attorney, this is the worst decision I’ve ever seen…I just hope and pray that we’re not back here when he hurts somebody else.” https://t.co/a7NAh2IWj7
— Justin Gordon (@Justin_G0rd0n) March 17, 2025
Like New York City, West Coast states have experimented with “restorative justice” and the like, and the results have mostly been disastrous. There has been some good news recently in the Golden State, though—voters got rid of LA’s soft-on-crime, Soros-backed prosecutor George Gascón in November, and they also voted for the crime measure Prop. 36, which aims to fix some of the past progressive excesses.
The left has had their turn; now it’s time for them to get out of the way so we can go back to the more logical system: “do the crime, pay the time.” This case is yet just another example of how the system needs some serious fixing.
Crime is one of the key issues plaguing America, and at RedState, we’re exposing those who enable it.
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