Originally Posted By DAR <<That's called an Alford Plea. But this begs the question: What was he convicted of? You said that he "murdered" someone, but this doesn't necessarily mean he was convicted of that. He may have been convicted of armed robbery, manslaughter, or 2nd degree murder in return for the plea. The distinction is important, as ordinarily when we think of putting someone away for life for murder, it's almost always 1st degree murder.> Thank you the Alford Plea, I couldn't remember it. He was put away because he set the up the deal, he set up the plans to rob the buyer, honestly I don't think the plan was someone would have died, but it's too late for that now. And the thing was, the judge, was a bleeding heart and he stuck him with a 30 year sentence. <<Also interesting. You said he asserted his innocence at the time, but usually a condition of parole is that you accept responsibility for the crime and show remorse (in addition to reform). So, has he had a change of heart since being convicted?>> I haven't talked to him in about a year, my parents always host Christmas Eve so the family would be over and he would call. But my parents switched to U-Verse and the calls from the prison can't be connected to a home with U-Verse. I am on his visitors list so when my cousin(his sister) goes to visit I'm going to hitch a ride with her. I haven't seen him since he was 17 so it's been awhile. Has he accepted his role in the whole ordeal, I'd like to think so, but who knows. It's hard during the visits and the phone calls to really get into the heart of the matter since you're pressed for time. But one day when he gets out maybe we'll have a long talk.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< He was put away because he set the up the deal, he set up the plans to rob the buyer, honestly I don't think the plan was someone would have died, but it's too late for that now. >>> Yep - there's a doctrine in most states that says that if you willingly plan and commit *any* felony, that all unintended consequences are considered premeditated as well. So, if someone dies during a robbery, you can be charged with 1st degree murder even though you had no plans to kill anyone. It doesn't always happen, but it's an awfully heavy hammer the prosecutor can use to get you to plea to a lesser crime, lest you risk a 1st degree murder conviction. An interesting way this can play out in theory actually did so around here recently: let's say you and a buddy decide to rob a bank, but get caught by the police. A shootout ensues, and the only one hurt is your buddy, who is in fact killed by the police. In that case, you could be charged with the 1st degree murder of your buddy. I think a lot of people, especially younger people like your cousin, just don't realize how quickly situations can escalate and get out of control once you decide to go down the wrong path, especially when guns are involved.
Originally Posted By DAR The sad thing is his other younger sister(another cousin) is destroying her own life and that of her 4 year old son. How else do explain someone an alleged "mother" who locks her son in his room while she does coke with her fellow strippers. Yeah she's a stripper too. It's a sad depressing situation and the family is doing it's best to make sure he doesn't fall down a similar path. Because he's a great kid, I mean something simple like a bike ride to the park makes him happy. Sorry I've rambled on too much.
Originally Posted By Labuda DAR, I realize that the situation you describe in post #23 is likely quite difficult for you, but reading it brings to mind the threads you've started condemning bad parents. Where is your outrage when it comes to your own family? And, just for the record, I feel like crap for asking you, but really - it feels like a double standard.
Originally Posted By DAR This is my dad's younger brother and his first wife's three kids. One has a good job, married witha kid. My uncle divorced from his wife when they were in their mid 20's and already had the kids. The problem with both is they wanted to be friends to their kids and not parents. Plus they thought only of themselves at times. Now to her credit their mother did try to make things right for them. My uncle was in Indiana one time when my cousin (prison) was busted for throwing an underage drinking party. When he was informed of it he stated, Christ I can never have any fun. My uncle would get drunk, to the point of blacking out and have his kids drive him home. He was an alcoholic My uncle was with his son once visiting the married woman he was having an affair with. Her husband came home in a rage and my uncle left his son there. And when his kids needed him the most he moved out of state. So yeah he's been a terrible parent and only now through rehab has he started to realize it. See I have no problem criticizing my family.
Originally Posted By Labuda Yeah, but you say his younger sister does coke with her child in another room. So why haven't you called child services so the child can be removed and placed in a safer home?
Originally Posted By Labuda Ok, at least someone is trying to get the little one taken care of. And, sorry if this is bringing up bad feelings for you, but I just am trying to see how you're so calm about this when usually you go OFF when people are crappy parents. I'd hate to see you end up with a deceased child in your own family.
Originally Posted By DAR And the other thing we don't make excuses. We don't blame it on someone else, we know what's she's doing is wrong. We know what my cousin did was wrong.
Originally Posted By Labuda "It's different when it's your family." That's a place where you and I differ. If my brother was anything like that, I'd call in CPS in a HEARTBEAT. I think this goes back, also, to the fact that I have no qualms calling out members of my family if they make racist comments. What's right is right in my book, regardless.
Originally Posted By DAR To be honest there's a real fear that the little guy might not end up with another family member. That he could end up in a foster home.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< So I wonder how much money in Florida is spent on jails? And how many other people have been screwed over and NOT fought back like this boy? >>> Labuda and others: if you want to listen to something that will really make you angry, check out "Corrections, Inc." It's a free podcast episode available in iTunes: search for "American RadioWorks" podcast - it's the 4/23/2007 episode. It basically describes how big money is driving a lot of what goes on in the criminal justice system today. Things like mandatory minimum sentencing, abolishment of parole, sentence enhancement, and so on are promoted not only by victims' rights groups, but by private corporations that benefit from such things: prison construction companies, companies that run private prisons, equipment manufacturers, and so on. It's sickening. I know that most industries (defense, agriculture, construction, etc) lobby the government to enact laws that benefit their particular industry, but usually the biggest downside is just an overall growth of government programs, funding, and taxation (not as if those alone aren't bad enough). But in the case of criminal justice, private corporations are actively lobbying for criminal penalties to be increased just so that more people can be put in prison for longer amounts of time, in order that their private facilities and services can make higher profits.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Perhaps even more sickening: there's a segment in "Capitalism: a Love Story" about the same sort of thing happening - but for juvenile offenders. A for-profit detention center opened in PA, gave some major coin to a couple of key judges in the area, and before you knew it, (along with the more serious offenders), kids were being sentenced to this place for quite minor offenses, like in one case getting ticked off at her stepdad and throwing a piece of chicken at him. That got her six months in detention, which was extended to nine with no review, no explanation, no nothing. The judges in question were later found out and jailed themselves, but the principle SuperDry elucidated holds up: when you introduce the profit motive to something like locking people up, they will find a way to lock more people up. The profit motive is fine for many industries, but prisons should not be one of them.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>The profit motive is fine for many industries, but prisons should not be one of them.<< Or the military, where war profiteering has simply been relabeled "contracting." So now we the taxpayers give $100 to companies like Halliburton to do a load of laundry. And since profit is the bottom line and not the well-being of our soldiers, they cut corners to save costs, resulting in our military drinking contaminated water and getting sick.
Originally Posted By SuperDry DAR, I would highly recommend that you listen to the podcast I referred to in #34 above. I just finished listening to it again, after first hearing it when it came out 3 years ago, and I couldn't help but quote some of it here. DAR wrote: <<< He's going to be 30 in about two weeks so he's served 14 years of his sentence. He started out in maximum here was transferred to Tennessee, Oklahoma(where is was accused of trying to escape during a prison riot)then moved a few years later to Minnesota in a medium security. And then finally back to Wisconsin where he went to a medium again and now he's in a minimum security facility. >>> The podcast said: "Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) dominates the private prison business, building and running prisons and renting cells to governments. ... [CCA has as seat on] the Criminal Justice Task Force of the American Legislative Exchange Council, which writes the group's model bills on crime and punishment, and promotes state laws which permit private prisons to operate, and at least since the early 1990's, has pushed a 'tough on crime' agenda ... and lead the drive for more incarceration. Among model bills, mandatory minimum sentencing, three strikes laws, and truth in sentencing which requires offenders to serve most of their time without chance of parole. CCA sits on the committee that wrote Wisconsin's 'truth in sentencing' bill. Wisconsin is a CCA customer. It's prisons are overcrowded, so it houses more than 3000 prison inmates at CCA facilities in Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. The price tag: more than $50 million a year." Wow - it looks like your cousin was moved out-of-state basically on a Grand Tour of CCA private prisons that Wisconsin has outsourced incarceration to, driven by demand that's a result of bills literally written by and lobbied for by CCA itself. How does that make you feel about gov't outsourcing and private vs public institutions?
