04 Oct 10
Originally posted by sh76What makes you think this case will get reversed? If Solem principles apply so obviously to it, why does Texas law still permit such sentences 27 years AFTER Solem?
Relax. It will be reduced on appeal.
Solem v. Helm, 463 U.S. 277 (1983)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solem_v._Helm
Edit: In any case, he was sentenced to 99 years more for hurting the person who tried to stop him and for being a habitual offender than for stealing the smokes. Your OP title is misleading.
04 Oct 10
Originally posted by no1marauderSupreme Court case law principles don't always get codified by state statute, especially subjective, case-by-case analyses like these.
What makes you think this case will get reversed? If Solem principles apply so obviously to it, why does Texas law still permit such sentences 27 years AFTER Solem?
Why do I think it will get reversed? Because I think it excessive under Solem. Also, when I posted my initial reaction, I had been lulled by the OP title into thinking it was a larceny conviction. Now that I see it was a robbery conviction, though, I'm less confident that it will reversed, though I do think it should be.
04 Oct 10
Originally posted by kmax879 strikes isn't enough for permanent incarceration? how about Texas releases him into your care, since you care so much?
I always laugh when people talk about the barbarism of Sharia law, but in their own back yard they are as civilized as cut snakes
the evidence your honor:
[quote]
Texan gets 99 years for stealing smokes
by Associated Press
Associated Press
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 6:58 AM
Updated Friday, Sep 10 at 6:58 AM
WACO (AP) — A central ...[text shortened]... gly tells the rest of us, which way is up.
Somebody tell me this report got it wrong. Please!
04 Oct 10
Originally posted by zeeblebotwhat's more expensive: lock someone up for a very long time or start a program that provides them with a pack a day. Anyone care to provide reasonable numbers that show the difference in cost?
9 strikes isn't enough for permanent incarceration? how about Texas releases him into your care, since you care so much?
04 Oct 10
Originally posted by kmax87it'd be a lot cheaper to turn him into compost, if the skids were greased.
what's more expensive: lock someone up for a very long time or start a program that provides them with a pack a day. Anyone care to provide reasonable numbers that show the difference in cost?
04 Oct 10
Originally posted by kmax87So he can then sue for mistreatment about how "da gubment gabe me cansa!"
what's more expensive: lock someone up for a very long time or start a program that provides them with a pack a day. Anyone care to provide reasonable numbers that show the difference in cost?
04 Oct 10
Originally posted by kmax87As preposterous as this case is I don't think it is comparable to stoning women to death for adultery.
I always laugh when people talk about the barbarism of Sharia law, but in their own back yard they are as civilized as cut snakes
the evidence your honor:
[quote]
Texan gets 99 years for stealing smokes
by Associated Press
Associated Press
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 6:58 AM
Updated Friday, Sep 10 at 6:58 AM
WACO (AP) — A central ...[text shortened]... gly tells the rest of us, which way is up.
Somebody tell me this report got it wrong. Please!
04 Oct 10
1 edit
Originally posted by sh76OUCH! I wasnt sure if the keeping lawyers in business jibe would get a bite, but there you go 😀
If you mean that there is something wrong with a justice system that allows incorrect or poor rulings to occur in the first place, then you are unrealistic.
In any case, your impugning of the entire American justice system based on the action of a single Texas jury that is subject to review and appeal on many levels is the height of myopia and a class example of jumping to a conclusion.
04 Oct 10
Originally posted by cheshirecatstevenshttp://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,161319,00.html
So he can then sue for mistreatment about how "da gubment gabe me cansa!"
Calif. Ban on Tobacco in Prison Begins
Friday, July 01, 2005
FOLSOM, Calif. — Randel Davis fidgeted in his prison blues, savoring one of his final hand-rolled cigarettes for some time before a ban on tobacco in California (search) prisons kicked in Friday.
"I don't know what I'm going to do," said Davis, 44, who is serving the last six months of a five-year stretch for a drug conviction. "I'm going to start eating grass."
Many state prison agencies around the country have full or partial bans on inmate tobacco use, but officials with corrections, health and legislative organizations say California is one of only a few to pass a near prohibition into law.
Many states' policies apply only to inmates, but California's extends to employees when they are inside prison walls. California's law also covers all tobacco (search) products, while some states permit chewing tobacco and snuff.
Davis was up to about 30 smokes a day, rolling about 300 skinny cigarettes from cans of tobacco he bought each month from the prison canteen until tobacco sales ended a month ago in anticipation of the new law.
He's among those who say tensions will rise, contraband tobacco will be worth its weight in gold and prisoners and employees alike will be jittery as they try to quit cold turkey.
04 Oct 10
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/weird/091010-Life-for-Texan-Who-Stole-Cigarettes
According to court documents, Wilkerson stole the cigarettes in July 2008, tucked them in his jacket, then shoved to the ground a man who tried to stop him. The fallen man was injured, allowing prosecutors to upgrade the charge against Wilkerson from theft to robbery.
04 Oct 10
1 edit
Originally posted by kmax87That wasn't the jibe that got the bite. The jibe that got the bite was "This from the nation that increasingly tells the rest of us, which way is up."
OUCH! I wasnt sure if the keeping lawyers in business jibe would get a bite, but there you go 😀
Most every unfair swipe at the US from a poster I respect will get a bite from me. No challenge there.
04 Oct 10
1 edit
Originally posted by sh76my 'problem' started growing up in apartheid era south africa and I sublimated all my energies into a system that I perceived to be fair and equitable, and light years ahead of everone. In short, the USA. We didnt have TV (arrived in 75) so my window on the USA was weekend doses of Disney, MGM, UA and all the movie houses that have since merged.
That wasn't the jibe that got the bite. The jibe that got the bite was "This from the nation that increasingly tells the rest of us, which way is up."
Most every unfair swipe at the US from a poster I respect will get a bite from me. No challenge there.
Probably in a similar way that people in the further reaches of the former British Empire tend to speak a very pure, grammatical correct version of the mother tongue, I suppose I've been indelliblly exposed to some of Hollywood's finest drama's to believe that given all the rhetoric from Mr Smith goes to Washington, to Born on the 4th of July, to feel deeply connected to the place, the land of the free, to feel somehow let down and dissapointed when selfish mean spirited actions suplant the generosity that made the nation great
04 Oct 10
Originally posted by kmax87light years ahead of everone. In short, the USA.
my 'problem' started growing up in apartheid era south africa and I sublimated all my energies into a system that I perceived to be fair and equitable, and light years ahead of everone. In short, the USA. We didnt have TV (arrived in 75) so my window on the USA was weekend doses of Disney, MGM, UA and all the movie houses that have since merged.
Well, congratulations, you (i.e., much of Europe, Australia and a few others) have caught up. We're about on equal footing now in terms of fairness and justice, etc., etc. We each have some good points and some not such good points; but over-all, it's about a wash.
Now we can all be judged by the same standard.