The fairness of multiple charges / enhanced sentencing

Discussion in 'Law & Justice' started by Anders Hoveland, Jun 17, 2012.

  1. ronnie61

    ronnie61 New Member

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    An entirely different scenario:
    The reason our prisons are overcrowded is simply the laws are archaic, our prosecutors are using less than common sense discretion, and honestly, are scaring elderly people who are led to believe jailing non violent drug users keeps them safer. Example: A few years back a co worker had moved his family to Arkansas from California. In Cali, he could legally use cannabis for a medical condition. He moved there to be with his wife's' aging parents. He moved his wife and 2 kids, bought a nice home, and found a very good job. He and his family became members of a local church. He didn't want to support drug cartels or buy it on the streets so he made the horrific mistake of growing some cannabis in a small field behind his home. A hunter found the plants, called the police and he was arrested. He had no intention of selling anything, there was NO evidence of any criminal activity other than the fact he was growing cannabis which he admitted was for his personal medical condition. Charges: Felony manufacturing a controlled substance.(marijuana) 2) Felony maintaining a drug premises.(I assume because he lived on the land the "crime" was committed) 3) Felony possession of drug paraphernalia. (a couple of pipes with burned marijuana residue in them) He pled no contest to all 3 charges, got 4 years probation. He lost his job, and couldn't find anyone who would hire him. Credit reporting agencies attached the conviction to his credit reports. Eventually his wife left him and turned his kids against him. He has now moved back to California so he can get a job back in the field of his expertise.(California voters approved a law that states no employer can get access to records of a non violent marijuana felony more than 2 years old.) I ask you... did the punishment fit the crime? Did prosecutors keep us safer? NO, they ruined a career, caused a good family to break apart, and in the end lost a good hearted tax paying citizen to another state. And we wonder why are streets are over run with people who seem to have lost hope. They didn't lose hope, The ability for an out of control prosecutor to use multiple charges took away their ability to fend for themselves and their families. The "crime" he committed was to plant 5 seeds in the dirt behind his house.
     
  2. JoakimFlorence

    JoakimFlorence Banned

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    Here's an example:

    A 20-year-old in Illinois was arrested for sending a message to a 14-year-old girl on the internet to meet to have sex.

    The 14-year-old girl accepted a Facebook friend request from the boy. The boy then sent the girl a sexually explicit message and requested to meet the girl for sex. The girl told her father who then contacted police. The police then assumed control of the girlÂ’s Facebook account and arranged to meet the suspect later that day. The boy was then arrested when he went to try to meet the girl.

    Out of what was basically this one act he was charged with indecent solicitation of a child, a Class 3 felony; solicitation to meet a child, a Class 4 felony; and one count grooming, a Class 4 felony. His bond was set at $200,000.

    Let's remember that all this boy did was make a proposition for a girl, who was 6 years younger, to have sex with him.
    And then he went to try to meet this girl.

    Really shows how important prosecutorial and judicial discretion is. There are too many redundant laws. The laws that are in place could allow officials to put people in prison for a very long time. I realize there needs to be some discretion, but the way the system works with so many repetitive charges for what is basically the same crime, there is just something very wrong.

    Let me repeat this in clearer words: If you are convicted of doing ONE thing illegal, the law allows you to receive a life sentence for it. I mean, it is theoretically possible. If the prosecutor wants to press all possible charges and the judge wants to give the maximum sentence, and an Appeals court does not commute the sentence. Does anyone else see how this is a bit alarming?
    Isn't the law supposed to protect us (even the ones of us who may have broken the law) from the arbitrary powers of government officials?
     
  3. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Here's another example.

    A Connecticut man named Tony Moreno threw his 7-month-old son off a bridge at the same time he was jumping off to commit suicide. Moreno survived after emergency crews received a call from the boy's mother, who said that Moreno was suicidal, and responded to the scene. Two days passed before someone reported finding the child's body downstream.
    The prosecutor charged Moreno with murder and risk of injury to a minor. The judge sentenced him to 60 years for the murder charge and 10 years for risk of injury to a minor, to be served consecutively, for a total of 70 years.

    https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news...Murder-7-Month-Old-Sons-Murder-425462724.html

    Now I'm not going to argue whether the man deserved 70 years for what he did, that's kind of besides the point here.
    But is it really appropriate to charge someone with both "risk of injury to a minor" when they're also being charged with the murder of that same person? He's basically being charged with two different criminal statutes for what is the same act.
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2017
  4. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    A woman on a plane complained that she had life-threatening allergies and was having trouble breathing. There were two dogs in the cabin and she demanded that they be removed. Instead, the flight crew demanded that she leave. She stubbornly refused to get up out of her seat and officers had to enter the plane to make her move. One of them wrapped his hands around her waist and another grabbed her leg, and her pants ripped when they tried to physically move her. The incident was caught on cellphone video.
    She was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, failure to obey a reasonable and lawful order, disturbing the peace, obstructing and hindering a police officer and resisting arrest.

    http://www.latimes.com/local/califo...st-airlines-woman-removed-20170927-story.html

    46-year-old college professor Anila Daulatzai, Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Los Angeles Times, Charges filed against passenger who complained of allergies on Southwest flight and was forcibly removed, Corina Knoll, September 27, 2017
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2017

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