Carlie is dead because the criminal justice system would not protect her.

Her alleged killer - who apparently told police where her body was - is 37-year-old Joseph Smith, a drug addict, who had been arrested at least 13 times in Florida since 1993.

In 1997, Smith was tried in Manatee County on kidnapping charges. 20-year-old Terry Stinson testified that Smith grabbed her on the street, knocked her down, and threatened to cut her with a knife.

Ms. Stinson escaped, and stopped a passing car for help. Smith ran and hid - finally, a police dog found him.

Despite Ms. Stinson's vivid testimony, a judge acquitted Smith after he told him he had grabbed the woman because he thought she was going to jump into traffic.

The death of Carlie Brucia is directly on the shoulders of the jurors who acquitted Joseph Smith - you people have much to answer for.

And so does Florida Judge Harry Rapkin.

Despite the fact that Smith had convictions for aggravted battery, and multiple conictions for drug crimes, Rapkin refused to imprison him last year after he violated his probation.

The judge issued a statement today blaming the probation department for not giving him more information, but that's bull. Rapkin had to know this guy was a serial offender.

Smith got out of prison on New Year's Day in 2003. Ten days later, he was re-arrested for possessing cocaine. Since that time, he has had two other probation violations - yet Judge Rapkin would not send him back to jail.

So I believe that Judge Harry Rapkin is, in part, responsible for the death on 11 year-old Carlie.

If you see Rapkin on the streets of Florida, you tell him from me, he should immediately resign his position.

On the radio today, I got callers asking if Carlie's parents bore any responsibility in this case.

I say no. An 11-year-old should be able to walk a public street in this country at 6 pm, without parental supervision. I did it, and so did millions of other Americans.

I believe this Smith thug did the same thing to Carlie that he did six years ago to Terry Stinson. He grabbed her and threatened to cut her.

America is now a much different place than it was 40 years ago, when I was walking around as a kid.

Now, judges give the benefit of the doubt to career criminals. Juries are too stupid to convict obvious predators. And drug addicts are seen as victims, rather than as people who are operating in a criminal world.

There is no way on this earth that Carlie Brucia should be dead. But a jury, a judge and a society would not protect her.

And that's the Memo.

Top Story:
Dangerous Judge
Judge Harry Rapkin could have sent Carlie's alleged killer back to prison for violating probation - but did not, citing a lack of information.

So what kind of judge is this?

Well, in 1996, he let a convicted arsonist walk free on three years probation - instead of sentencing him to 17 months in prison. A few years later, on New Year's Eve, that arsonist, James Drayton, broke into his ex-girlfriend's apartment armed with a shotgun. He wounded a 19-year-old woman, and held his girlfriend hostage during a four-hour standoff with the SWAT team.