# In my humble opinion, this is the biggest crock of shit I've ever heard of **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 19, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827 "2006-12-19T20:31:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/281 "2007-06-18T14:50:56Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] **Evil Captor** , **Cartooniverse** , it’s obvious that neither of you has a fucking clue about Thurbert Baker, or about the law, or about the political situation in Georgia. [/quote] No, we just disagree with you. There’s a difference, believe it or not. > [@](#): > > Baker stepped into this case at great political risk, since overwhelming voter sentiment in Georgia is that the law was draconian and that the kid should go free. (This is why the law was changed after the verdict _by democratically-elected legislators_. Most of whom are _conservative Republicans_, by the way.) See, another way of looking at this is as follows: Baker is about the only (weasel words – I believe he’s the only one) black official in Georgia who’s elected statewide. And about the only Democrat. (There are black officials in the legislator, of course, but they are elected by their districts, as are black judges, etc.) As such, he needs white votes as well as black votes. So he saw this as an opportunity to get some crossover white votes in Georgia’s increasingly Republican, increasingly lily white government. That’s why he appealed. The precedent may be bad, but historically Georgia officials have given a shit about bad precedent. Frex, I give you the DAs who happily prosecuted cases under a statewide anti-strip club law that was so badly written that the Georgia Supreme Court fond it unconstitutional on the grounds that if enforced as written, it would forbid people to take showers in the nude or change their baby’s diapers. > [@](#): > > Baker is catching all kinds of heat from Georgia voters for his decision. Yes, he sure screwed the pooch on this one. That doesn’t prove he knew he would be screwing the pooch when he made the appeal, or that he isn’t hoping for some white voters to remember him for it come election time. > [@](#): > > Baker’s logic is this: you cannot have a judge who did not preside at trial modifying the sentence set by a _coequal_ trial judge. Otherwise, the superior court judge sitting in the county where a convict is imprisoned sits as a _de facto_ appellate judge with authority over every other superior court judge in the state. That precedent would invite chaos, abuse, and political gamesmanship between judges with opposing criminal philosohies. “Hmmm. The sentence imposed by Judge Jones over in Barrow County seems lenient to me. I believe I’ll enter an order re-writing it to add a couple of years.” Seems to me there must be a better way of resolving this legal issue that doesn’t involve further ruining a kid’s life. If you act the asshole, you ought to be willing to be called an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/282 "2007-06-18T15:45:25Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] See, another way of looking at this is as follows: Baker is about the only (weasel words – I believe he’s the only one) black official in Georgia who’s elected statewide. [/quote] Nope. Take a look at the [Georgia Supreme Court](http://www.gasupreme.us/justices_bios.php) Both Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears and Justice Benham won handily when challeneged by white opponents. (Though judicial elections are officially non-partisan, Sears and Benham entered office as Democratic appointees. Their challengers in subsequent elections were strongly backed by the Republican party, and did not hesitate to play the race card. Voters handed the challengers their heads.) And for good measure, [here’s the Georgia Court of Appeals](http://www.gaappeals.us/biography/). These justices also hold statewide elected office. > [@](#): > > That doesn’t prove he knew he would be screwing the pooch when he made the appeal, or that he isn’t hoping for some white voters to remember him for it come election time. Ridiculous. It was well known that voters were outraged by the Genarlow Wilson situation. That voter outrage is what led the legislature (the _majority white, majority Republican_ legislature) to rewrite the law. Baker knew that he was flying into the teeth of this voter outrage when he filed his appeal. Defending Georgia’s sentencing procedures under the circumstances actually took a lot of courage. > [@](#): > > Seems to me there must be a better way of resolving this legal issue that doesn’t involve further ruining a kid’s life. As I said, the bond hearing is July 5. Stay tuned. > [@](#): > > If you act the asshole, you ought to be willing to be called an asshole. I just quoted that part so you could read it and perhaps benefit from it. Bigoted assumptions should be cahllenged on _all_ fronts. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/283 "2007-06-18T16:04:22Z")
[QUOTE=Apos] Is it true that Georgia state Governors cannot pardon people? [/QUOTE] That is my understanding. The governor’s power to grant pardons was taken away out of concern over corruption. [History here.](http://www.pap.state.ga.us/opencms/export/sites/default/home/history_of_parole.html) Power to grant pardons is now vested in [The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles](http://www.pap.state.ga.us/opencms/export/sites/default/index.html?page=index.html). ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/284 "2007-06-18T19:17:22Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] [And **Cartooniverse** , I don’t believe for a minute that you knew Baker was black when you made your post. You have to poke around the AG’s website before finding his picture, and it doesn’t appear on the page you linked. You were predisposed to assume racism, as your post so clearly suggests. You said nothing about Baker being an Uncle Tom in your original post. Nice attempt at revisionism, though. [/QUOTE] :eek: My god. This is not the Pit, so I will be polite. Yes, I perused quite a bit of that web site. Several pages are quite enlightening. At least one had a posed professional portrait of the A.G. I saw that. I read other web pages. I wrote my post. You are free to believe anything you wish, however I know what I did, and in what order I did it. I did not use the phrase " Uncle Tom". I was referring to something written by **Evil Captor**. No attempt at revisionism here, I don’t play that dodge. Nice shot, though. A for effort ! 🙂 > [@spoke](#): > > Bigoted assumptions should be cahllenged on all fronts. –cough cough-- You mean like if someone were to say to a total stranger, > [@](#): > > You were predisposed to assume racism, as your post so clearly suggests. Like that kind of a thing? Gosh. I just couldn’t agree more !! You know nothing about me, my background, ideology, life, family, etc. And yet you sail in here saying I am predisposed to racism. Well said. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/285 "2007-06-18T19:26:21Z")
**Cartooniverse** , all I need to know about you and bigotry is right here: > [@](#): > > …it’s Georgia and by god we sure know who really runs the shit behind the scenes down there… ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/286 "2007-06-18T19:37:51Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] As I said, the bond hearing is July 5. Stay tuned. [/QUOTE] Okay, I understand that there is a point of law at stake here, but what is the purpose of keeping him in prison until July 5? I don’t think the kid should spend three more weeks in prison because of a jurisdiction issue. Can’t they issue him an appearance ticket for the bond hearing or something? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/287 "2007-06-18T20:00:00Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] Okay, I understand that there is a point of law at stake here, but what is the purpose of keeping him in prison until July 5? I don’t think the kid should spend three more weeks in prison because of a jurisdiction issue. Can’t they issue him an appearance ticket for the bond hearing or something? [/QUOTE] Who is “they?” The whole purpose of the bond hearing is for “them” to decide _whether_ the kid should be freed pending the appeal. And the thing is, despite all the publicity, this is not the only guy in Georgia who has an issue to take up with the court. The judge has dozens of other cases before him (both civil lawsuits and criminal matters) and can’t drop everything to take up this case every time the press hollers. A couple of weeks is not an unreasonable amount of time to wait for a bond hearing, after which the kid may well be released pending appeal. In the meantime, I suggest you vent your frustration (which I share, by the way)to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, since they’re the only ones who could free the kid without wading through the court system. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/288 "2007-06-18T21:03:41Z")
Yeah, spoke has it. The whole point of a pardon is to correct unjustices in the law without corrupting or damaging the process of the law itself. The law in question has already been fixed, and for various individually good reasons, we can’t just bend or break things like ex post facto. What we can do is grant a special pardon from a punishment I think most people would agree, including the current legislature, is unjust (frankly, I think any time served at all for a minor getting a blowjob from another minor only two years younger than you and basically in the same peer group is ridiculous too, but that isn’t the law). ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/289 "2007-06-18T21:21:30Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] This is not the Pit, so I will be polite. [/QUOTE] Actually, it is the Pit. Blaze away! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/290 "2007-06-18T23:34:24Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] How long will the appeal take? Oh, if the Attorney General is at all clever about it, it will take about 7 1/2 years. [/QUOTE] [The Georgia Supreme Court has set the case down for hearing in October.](http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/19244524/) ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/291 "2007-06-19T12:52:32Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] And the thing is, despite all the publicity, this is not the only guy in Georgia who has an issue to take up with the court. [/QUOTE] And how many of them are currently omprisoned for something that is not a crime? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/292 "2007-06-19T12:59:07Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] And how many of them are currently omprisoned for something that is not a crime? [/QUOTE] I don’t know. Do you? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/293 "2007-06-19T15:00:11Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] And how many of them are currently omprisoned for something that is not a crime? [/QUOTE] Incidentally, it _is_ still a crime. Just not a felony anymore. Now it’s a misdemeanor. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/294 "2007-06-19T16:12:06Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] **Cartooniverse** , all I need to know about you and bigotry is right here: [/QUOTE] Interesting. Exactly what DID you think I meant by that?? Oh wise, and very sage mind-reader, check this shit out. I was referring to the political group that truly holds power in Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/295 "2007-06-19T17:22:30Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] I was referring to the political group that truly holds power in Georgia. [/QUOTE] Well I asked earlier and you ignored the question. I’ll ask again, and maybe you’ll answer: Who “really runs the shit behind the scenes down there” in Georgia? As a Georgian, I’m really curious to know. Also, what is Thurbert Baker’s connection to this shadowy group? ---
**Author:** ![LOUIS\_CYPHERE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a9a28c/32.png) [@LOUIS\_CYPHERE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LOUIS_CYPHERE)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/296 "2007-06-19T23:03:05Z")
[QUOTE=Birdmonster] We’re talking about a typical all-American sort of kid here (“…football player, honor student…homecoming king”), not someone with a history of unfortunate instances. That said, we’re still on the same page about most of this. [/QUOTE] OH! So it is okay for the all-star, high-school jock, to get under-age girls drunk, and then screw them, but the class misfit has to fester at home with his copy of SMUT cranking his shaft. That is exactly how events like Columbine arise. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/297 "2007-06-20T13:07:42Z")
[QUOTE=LOUIS CYPHERE] OH! So it is okay for the all-star, high-school jock, to get under-age girls drunk, and then screw them, but the class misfit has to fester at home with his copy of SMUT cranking his shaft. That is exactly how events like Columbine arise. [/QUOTE] I’m glad we can both agree that masturbation leads directly to school shootings. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/298 "2007-06-20T13:38:17Z")
[QUOTE=LOUIS CYPHERE] OH! So it is okay for the all-star, high-school jock, to get under-age girls drunk, and then screw them, but the class misfit has to fester at home with his copy of SMUT cranking his shaft. That is exactly how events like Columbine arise. [/QUOTE] If your theory were true, I’d have killed more people than trench warfare. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/299 "2007-06-20T15:10:41Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] I’m glad we can both agree that masturbation leads directly to school shootings. [/QUOTE] Christ. Life was so much simpler when it just grew hair on your palms… ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/300 "2007-06-20T15:14:00Z")
[QUOTE=Vinyl Turnip] If your theory were true, I’d have killed more people than trench warfare. [/QUOTE] Instead of just killing more kittens than feline leukaemia. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827.md?page=14)