So you were applying no stereotype or prejudging Colaborator’s political bent, you were just responding to what he said?
Then perhaps you could point out, based solely on what he said, just how it is that you were able to ascertain that his attitude resulted in people being put away for 99 years for minor drug possession, and how you were able to hazard a guess - lacking as you were any kind of prejudicial political stereotype - that he likely voted for Bush and will vote for McCain.
I have a very hard time seeing how you could arrive at these conclusions about Colaborator only without a pre-existing political prejudice against Republicans in general, and when you jump to those conclusions and paint him with that broad brush you not only very possibly misrepresent his own views, but those of the rest of us who are Republicans or conservatives as well.
Perhaps I read an inaccurate account earlier today, but I thought the authorities led her to believe that if she pled guilty she would be let off with just parole. She did so and then was shocked to get the maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years. That is why I said what happened to her was bullshit.
I’m sure every con out there (or rather, in there) could give you a similar sob story. Still, it doesn’t entitle them to commit the additional crime of escape, nor to think that they never need to face their legal obligation to society “'cause it’s all bullshit, man.”
Also, if that’s her own account of what happened, then she doesn’t sound all that repentant, does she?
Drug charges were more harsh back in the day. Maybe she was selling pot. I mean, you gotta buy it somewhere. I’d need more details before I could make a call on this one.
What is the purpose of prison - to punish, to segregate, or to rehabilitate?
I consider prison to be a place where we segregate dangerous people from the general population and then try to rehabilitate them so they can be eventually released. Prison is great at the former, not so good at the latter. Now we have a person who defeated the first purpose by escaping and achieved the second purpose. She rehabilitated herself. She has been a productive, law-abiding citizen for more than 30 years. (By “law-abiding,” I am concerned more with laws protecting personal safety and property, not in the regulatory offenses of faking her identification.)
We don’t have endless resources to prosecute crimes. Most people recognize that the War on Drugs is fundamentally flawed and unjust, and many of us consider her original sentence to be unduly harsh. This is definitely a case where prosecutorial or judicial discretion should be exercised. Give her time served and some community service, and then leave her the hell alone.
Thanks! I read it and now I think she should go back for some time, but I still think “small time” dealers of drugs should not be treated as harshly as they are. I’d give her 5 if she’s stayed out of trouble.
She was acting as a courier for her drug-dealing boyfriend, who went on to go on to face multiple drug charges over the rest of his life before being murdered execution-style in 1981. So it does seem she escaped from that life, if not from the law.
I understand that escaping from prison has no statute of limitations. That doesn’t mean justice is always served by the automatic resumption of the original sentence either (no doubt with penalties and accrued interest, so to speak).
I read what he posted and responded the way I did. This is the IMHO forum and what I wrote is MHO. YMMV and obviously does. I have intention of engaging in verbal jousting and I have less intention of high jacking this thread.
I think the humane solution would be 6 months for the escape charge and the governor should commute her original sentence to time served.
How does one just walk out of prison in the first place? Is that a minimum security facility? I was under the impression that inmates with longer sentences weren’t placed in minimum security prisons because of the escape risk.
I have no idea. But there’s a part of me that wonders whether it was a neighbor that called in the tip. Teens in the middle of conflicts with parents can be pretty malicious and stupid. Impulse often starts chains of events that no one wants to see taken to their conclusions. And teens are known for having poor impulse control.
Sure I would.
I detect no gender bias in the OP. In fact, there’s no mention of gender.
What on earth brought that to mind? And that’s a serious query.
What do you mean by “cuts”?
I think she should go back and serve what she would normally serve remaining on her sentence (another year, like her boyfriend?) and an additional 6 months for the escape. She was young, but she wasn’t a kid when she committed the crime. And boo hooo…jail is bad. That’s right, that’s why most people don’t commit crimes.
Why commute the sentence? She hasn’t devoted her life to rehabbing criminals or feeding the poor. She ran away from the punishment put upon her for her crime, then started a new life scot-free with a new name.