Ask Grandpa: On parole board and banking privileges

Ask Grandpa
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Grandpa,
Many years ago, my son was convicted of bank robbery. One condition of his upcoming parole is that he is not permitted to go into any bank, savings and loan, credit union, or, currency exchange. His parole will be in (a neighboring state), so is it okay for him to come to Illinois to open a bank account? How else is he going to be able to cash payroll checks or pay his bills?

Grandpa says: Grandpa has done enough work in prison ministry to doubt the veracity of your letter.

First, bank robbery is a federal offense. The feds do not play games with the concept of truth in sentencing. Fed time is served at 100%.

Secondly, no parole officer is going to give your son movement to visit another state. Therefore, I contacted you for more information. With that information I did some research. Your son did his federal time and is on parole on later state charges relating to the possession of weapons by a felon. The parole board in his home state was wise enough to put the stipulation on your son about the banishment from banking institutions as a safeguard.

Your son did very little in the prison system to prove himself rehabilitated or remorseful. For you to suggest he go out of state to violate his parole is just a sign of how he may have become distorted enough to commit his crimes. Are you out of your mind?! With all of the bank card companies that offer banking services without a brick and mortar facility, he can get a card over the phone, mail his documentation to the company, and have his paychecks deposited directly on to his bank card. I am reluctant to offer the suggestion that you could open up an account for him as his power of attorney. I certainly would not want a dishonest or manipulative person handling my money, and am sure neither would your son. Let the man grow up and fend for himself. His parole officer can do a better job of directing his activities than can you.

Grandpa,
I have a question relating to Exodus 10:4 and Leviticus 11:22. Leviticus tells us that locusts are a clean food while Exodus says that the locust were a plague on Egypt. I would think that the locust would have been more like the manna God sent to his people in the desert.

Grandpa says: I never looked at it like that before! But too much of a good thing can be bad. The word in both texts comes from the word “arbieth” which is a derivative of the word meaning ‘increase”. It was the increase in the number of locusts that disrupted the economy of Egypt because of the crop losses. The bugs ate more food than they could have become. Similarly, the locusts of Utah were as a plague on the settlers until God sent the sea gulls to be a sign that the settlers had found themselves a new home. Notice God did not send gulls to the Egyptians.

Got something stuck in your craw? Ask Grandpa. Address your letters to Ask Grandpa c/o The Voice, PO Box 123, Aurora, IL 60507 or send an E-mail to askgrandpa@thevoice.us.

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