posted
How could he have been denied parole so many times?!? Was the parole board a bunch of TV salesmen or something?
Meanwhile every celebrity busted with drugs or for assualt gets off with probation.
I need to get famouus so I can be exempt from society's petty laws.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Well it doesn't sound like Mr. Allen was an angel exactly. Clearly life in prison for a 19 inch B&W TV is excessive, but it's very possible he didn't make a very positive impression on his parole board.
Registered: Sep 2000
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Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
If they changed the sentencing rules for this kind of crime you would imagine that it would be RETROACTIVE.
Again, HUH???
-------------------- "And slowly, you come to realize, it's all as it should be, you can only do so much. If you're game enough, you could place your trust in me. For the love of life, there's a tradeoff, we could lose it all but we'll go down fighting...." - David Sylvian FreeSpace 2, the greatest space sim of all time, now remastered!
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Retroactive laws are prohibited at the state and federal level by the US Constitution, so that's why his sentence wasn't reconsidered when the punishment part of the law was changed. Still, you'd think the parole board would have the common sense that the theft of a $140 black and white television set is in no way deserving of a life sentence. I don't think it matters whether or not he did have a criminal history or not or whether he roughed up the owner or not. He was tried for stealing a TV set, not for his criminal record and not for assault. What really gets me, though, is that the article implies that no one jumped in to help the guy until this law professor did so. Did no one else no anything about his case? Did his family not try to get any help for him?
-------------------- The philosopher's stone. Those who possess it are no longer bound by the laws of equivalent exchange in alchemy. They gain without sacrifice and create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Mabye that stolen TV was all the family he ever had...
Untill he became someone's girlfriend in prison, that is.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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"Retroactive laws are prohibited at the state and federal level by the US Constitution..."
Federal, yes, but I can't see how it could be construed to affect state laws. However, I suspect most state constitutions would contain the same proviso.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
His state governor(s) could have pardoned him at any time you know.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Tim: The US Constitution specifically says that the states cannot make ex post facto laws; the relevant text is in Article I, Section 10.
I haven't done a search on every state constitution, but Texas (Article I, Section 16), North Carolina (Article I, Section 16), and Missouri (Article I, Section 13) all specifically outlaw ex post facto laws as well.
-------------------- The philosopher's stone. Those who possess it are no longer bound by the laws of equivalent exchange in alchemy. They gain without sacrifice and create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
I listened to an interview with Mr. Allen's lawyer and I managed to glean these few points: - The Defendant was black and that the home in which the TV set was stolen was owned by an old white woman. According to the attourney, Mr. Allen never had contact with the white woman, nor was there any evidence to suggest that he did. The attourney does not know if this factored into the decision to hand down a life sentence. - The Defendant's previous offenses were quite minor, nothing that would warrant such a life sentence. - Much of the paperwork involving Mr. Allen's incarceration has since dissappeared, including rationales for the sentencing and subsequent parole hearings. - His parole "hearings" were simply nothing more than a simple paper application that is then handled by a desk clerk. - Four years ago, a state prosecutor happened to come across Mr. Allen's file while looking at an unrelated motion. Of course he was aghast of what he saw and contacted the man who would then be Mr. Allen's attourney. - From what I know, all work done by this attourney was clearly pro bono. Mr. Allen's family does not have the financial resources to get a court to overturn the sentence. - Almost all of the fellow prisoners and prison guards felt that Mr. Allen was a friendly man and deserved to be let out early. Unfortunately, this did not affect the outcomes of his parole applications. - When the State prosecutor and the attourney made the request to the parole board to release Mr. Allen, they were given a response that releasing him would "undermine the seriousness of the charge". - When the interviewer asked why this happened, the attourney says that he believes Mr. Allen "fell through the cracks". Despite this, a civil suit is not likely because the conviction, as well as the parole rejections and his incarceration for 35 years was all legal.
-------------------- "And slowly, you come to realize, it's all as it should be, you can only do so much. If you're game enough, you could place your trust in me. For the love of life, there's a tradeoff, we could lose it all but we'll go down fighting...." - David Sylvian FreeSpace 2, the greatest space sim of all time, now remastered!
Registered: Mar 1999
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"Tim: The US Constitution specifically says that the states cannot make ex post facto laws; the relevant text is in Article I, Section 10."
Ah, so it is.
Interestingly, the same paragraph says that they can't use paper money. It also happens to contain the bit that says they have to respect each other's contracts, which they also ignore (with far less good reason).
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I'm outraged that a stone-cold TV thief could be released from his just and fair punishment after two bleeding heard liberals undermined our judicial system.
Really, it reminds me of a Oblongs episode where the cops look at each other an say: "Well, she's old, white and has a bible: we better do what she says..."
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Tim: Well, even if that entire section of the constitution is ignored, you initial thought about it being in all the state constitutions is probably correct. I know a lot of the state constitutions also duplicate the Bill of Rights even though they probably don't need to.
Saltah'na: Thanks, that additional information clears up some of the mess. What I'm still concerned about is the parole board telling the prosecutor and the attorney that his release "would undermine the seriousness of the charge". Someone (or many someones) is off in frickin' La-La-Land.
-------------------- The philosopher's stone. Those who possess it are no longer bound by the laws of equivalent exchange in alchemy. They gain without sacrifice and create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it.
Registered: Mar 1999
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-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Saltah'na: I listened to an interview with Mr. Allen's lawyer and I managed to glean these few points: - The Defendant was black and that the home in which the TV set was stolen was owned by an old white woman. According to the attourney, Mr. Allen never had contact with the white woman, nor was there any evidence to suggest that he did. The attourney does not know if this factored into the decision to hand down a life sentence. - The Defendant's previous offenses were quite minor, nothing that would warrant such a life sentence. - Much of the paperwork involving Mr. Allen's incarceration has since dissappeared, including rationales for the sentencing and subsequent parole hearings. - His parole "hearings" were simply nothing more than a simple paper application that is then handled by a desk clerk. - Four years ago, a state prosecutor happened to come across Mr. Allen's file while looking at an unrelated motion. Of course he was aghast of what he saw and contacted the man who would then be Mr. Allen's attourney. - From what I know, all work done by this attourney was clearly pro bono. Mr. Allen's family does not have the financial resources to get a court to overturn the sentence. - Almost all of the fellow prisoners and prison guards felt that Mr. Allen was a friendly man and deserved to be let out early. Unfortunately, this did not affect the outcomes of his parole applications. - When the State prosecutor and the attourney made the request to the parole board to release Mr. Allen, they were given a response that releasing him would "undermine the seriousness of the charge". - When the interviewer asked why this happened, the attourney says that he believes Mr. Allen "fell through the cracks". Despite this, a civil suit is not likely because the conviction, as well as the parole rejections and his incarceration for 35 years was all legal.
this is from the first article.
quote: Allen was a 30-year-old migrant farm worker from Georgia with a criminal history that included burglaries and a violent assault when he sneaked into an unlocked house and stole a 19-inch black-white television worth $140 US.
He was at least a three time loser, so you tend to get life after so many offences.
-------------------- Sparky:: Think! Question Authority, Authoritatively. “Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see.” EMSparks
Shalamar: To save face, keep lower half shut.
Registered: Jun 1999
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