# I Think Robert Downy Jr. Sentence Was Correct
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [July 18, 2001, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971 "2001-07-18T19:27:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/1 "2001-07-18T19:27:35Z")
I mean it would have been stupid to send him to jail. He has been to jail and he still did drugs when he gotout. So obviously jail didn’t rehabilitate him now did it? So what did putting him in jail do for us? Nothing. He crime never hurt us in the first place so I don’t think jail was the answer at all.
Now his current sentence of probation & rehab that is a sentence that might have a prayer of doing something for Robert. I sure hope this is the going trend for drug offenders(not pushers) because putting them is jail is wrong, costly and stupid.
---
### Author:  [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/2 "2001-07-18T19:37:23Z")
::don’t mind me, I’ll just be over in the corner here, trying to figure out which to focus on:
1. **Wildest Bill** is opting for **less** punishment for some one convicted of a crime or
2. Hope for the future, since **Wildest Bill** sees a rationale for alternative sentencing.
---
### Author:  [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/3 "2001-07-18T19:47:58Z")
Hey wring,
What’s up?
While you wondering, I will go ahead and tell you. I think I’ll take door #1 and door #2.
I am opting for the less punishment of a crime and I think alternative sentencing is a very good idea. I think jail just teaches people how to become better criminals.
Prison should be for persons that do acts that harm others not themselves.
If our system, would make this simple change our prison system would be so much less crowded and alot cheaper.
---
### Author:  [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/4 "2001-07-18T20:19:35Z")
Bill, I agree with you 100%.
After you pick your jaw up off the floor, I will also mention that I don’t think that drugs should be illegal anyway, but that easily available programs (like AA today) should be available for those who cannot use them responsibly.
---
### Author:  [@muppetsoup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muppetsoup)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/5 "2001-07-18T20:19:38Z")
I agree, but what about the 18 year old kid who’s doing 10 years for possession? It’s hardly fair that he does time and some famous guy keeps his freedom.
---
### Author:  [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/6 "2001-07-18T20:46:09Z")
::wildest bill picking up jaw off floor::
So pldennison,
You think coke and heroin should be legal too? I mean I could see weed and roids( 😉 😃 ) being legal but coke and heroin once you start those it is dang hard to quit. You try those drugs next thing you know you are flat broke laying in an alley with collapsed veins and no teeth.
Muppet,
I agree that is VERY UNFAIR. I think they should release all those people on weed possession charges. It is insane they are imprisoned anyway.
---
### Author:  [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/7 "2001-07-18T21:30:14Z")
Well, there is the new law in California that non-violent drug offenders must be sentenced to treatment rather than jail. It is only after many convictions that they go to jail (if I remember correctly, I remember voting for the prop, though).
Of course, no drugs should be illegal and I don’t think he should even be forced into treatment. If I am elected president tomorrow, my first act will be to sign a blanket pardon of all possession convictions.
---
### Author:  [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/8 "2001-07-18T22:31:59Z")
Wow, look at me agreeing with **Wildest Bill**. It feels sort of…funny. [sub]what’s that tingling???[/sub]
I think it’s insane that we lock up drug users. I think we should legalize most drugs, and fight the rest with rehabilitation, rather than jail.
Of course, I’d be a lot more excited about this ruling if I didn’t have the suspicion that it’s much more an artifact of Robert Downey Jr. being a celebrity than any sort of enlightenment about drug policy… (What **muppetsoup** said, basically.) But, it’s hard for me to decry the lack of universal injustice. (“Unfairness should be distributed fairly, damnit!”) So I won’t.
---
### Author:  [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/9 "2001-07-18T22:40:16Z")
Wildest Bill, you are just so in-your-face sometimes.🙂
Um…what are roids?
---
### Author:  [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/10 "2001-07-18T22:52:07Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by vanilla \*
> \*\*Wildest Bill, you are just so in-your-face sometimes.🙂
> Um…what are roids? \*\*
Steroids.
In other words in a fit of mind-numbing hypocricy, **Wildest Bill** wants to legalize a class of drug he’s gone on record as saying he wants to use, but doesn’t trust others to make similar choices with different drugs (heroin, cocaine). :rolleyes: _There’s_ a bold stance for freedom and personal integrity.
I can just see his next thread: Repeal sodomy laws. For heterosexuals only.
I can’t quite work up the energy for a pit-thread, though.
And I’m comfortable legalizing _everything_, even though I’ve never done anything harder than pot.
Fenris
---
### Author:  [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2001, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/11 "2001-07-19T03:16:31Z")
And I favor legalizing everything, even though I’ve never done anything softer than LSD.
Pot was not a gateway drug, I’ve never had it.
---
### Author:  [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2001, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/12 "2001-07-19T04:12:14Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by obfusciatrist \*
> \*\*And I favor legalizing everything, even though I’ve never done anything softer than LSD.
>
> Pot was not a gateway drug, I’ve never had it. \*\*
Seriously? Try it. You’re missing out.
I’d like to do other stuff but I can’t afford it as it is.
–Tim
---
### Author:  [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2001, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/13 "2001-07-19T04:30:12Z")
Robbie’s problem is that nothing is going to work. He’s been down this road, and keeps screwing up. You can’t rehabilitate someone who won’t quit.
Oh, and I think he should have gotten a jail term. After all, I’m sure other, less famous people have gotten jail time for the same charges. He got lucky. Either treat him like you do everyone else or let them off too.
---
### Author:  [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2001, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/14 "2001-07-19T12:01:28Z")
I’ve never used any drug but alcohol, and I say legalize them all.
---
### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2001, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/15 "2001-07-19T12:21:47Z")
I also say legalize them all. But if we are going to have laws, lets apply them equally. If yours truly was busted as many times as RDJ, I would be doing hard time.
---
### Author:  [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2001, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/16 "2001-07-19T16:54:31Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Saint Zero \*
> \*\*Either treat him like you do everyone else or let them off too. \*\*
Do we know what the record is for _this_ judge in how he or she sentences drug offenders? Maybe they _did_ treat RDJ like they do every other drug offender who comes before them whether famous or not.
* * *
Jeg elsker dig, Thomas
---
### Author:  [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2001, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/17 "2001-07-20T03:01:31Z")
I **HATE** Robert Downey Jr. I absolutly despise him. He stands as a shining example of how the rich rarely have to pay for their crimes. (See also: OJ Simpson, Daryl Strawberry, any number of politicians, etc.)
Frankly, people don’t deserve a third chance for this kind of shit, rich of poor.
---
### Author:  [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2001, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/18 "2001-07-20T04:32:47Z")
No thanks, Homer. Second hand pot smoke makes me nauseous, I don’t want to even think about inhaling directly.
Plus, I’ve never tried a drug twice, I just try them once for the experience and rarely enjoy. My experience with pot smokers is that they either just act normal, though mellow, or become total twits. Neither appeals to me (I’m already mellow).
Does anybody know if the the new California law I mentioned played any role in Downey’s sentencing?
---
### Author:  [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2001, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/19 "2001-07-20T08:55:01Z")
I was under the impression that the reason RDJ got treatment instead of jail was because of a new California law that mandated it. No cite for it, tho. Anyone else heard that?
---
### Author:  [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2001, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971/20 "2001-07-20T08:57:41Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by lawoot \*
> \*\*I was under the impression that the reason RDJ got treatment instead of jail was because of a new California law that mandated it. No cite for it, tho. Anyone else heard that? \*\*
Insert ‘also’ between ‘was’ and ‘under’.
\>slapping forehead, lawoot leaves, muttering “preview, dummy, PREVIEW”\<
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-robert-downy-jr-sentence-was-correct/72971.md?page=2)