Black Men Feel Prison Is Better Than Being Homeless.

Lance Brown was hungry and homeless, so he decided to get thrown in jail by hurling a brick through a glass door at the Columbus courthouse building.

Brown, 36, spent nine months in jail before his April trial. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to another month behind bars, and three years of probation that includes a six-month stay in a halfway house.

Brown's case illustrates the struggle prosecutors face when dealing with homeless defendants who resort to crime to seek the safety of prison. They weigh whether to devote scarce resources to prosecuting a lower-level offense with the burden that comes with upholding the law and deterring others from breaking it.

Faced with more nights on the street, Brown said he thought lofting the brick through the building would give him at least a few hours in a place where “someone's going to offer me a sandwich and drink.

U.S. Attorney Michael Moore said he had little other choice than to charge him with malicious mischief, a crime that carried a 10-year maximum prison sentence.

“The unfortunate circumstances in which Mr. Brown found himself cannot be a justification for destroying property of the United States,” Moore said. “And while I am personally saddened by Mr. Brown's plight, I regret that he chose to violate the law instead of taking help from those who offered it.”

Brown was previously convicted of bank robbery and released from a North Carolina prison in July. He headed to the courthouse in downtown Columbus with a strange request for hisprobation officer: He wanted to know what he could do to get back behind bars. The officer, Billy Johnston, offered him a list of social services, but it didn't take long for Brown to come up with his own answer.

He threatened to kill the president, a threat officers didn't deem credible.

Source http://www.blacknews.com/news/homeless_man_crime_back_to_prison101.shtml