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LafayetteLady -> RE: Prison visitation (5/20/2009 1:38:17 PM)
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Geez, I go to sleep and this freaking thing went viral. While I don't REALLY mean to be snarky, for all of you who keep complaining that the system is corrupt, that justice doesn't exist, blah blah blah. Do me a favor, concentrate on who else was on the grassy knoll because quite frankly, your statements here have shown no basis of fact other than you may or may not feel you or someone close to you has been mistreated by the system.
First of all, as others have said, she violated probation and that is what put her in this position. To be clear, typically when someone writes a bad check, they are FIRST given the opportunity to make good on the check. So if indeed this was simply an error in balancing a checkbook, she was likely given the opportunity to correct it. When that doesn't happen, the receiver of their check is completely within their rights to complain to the court. This wasn't a $50 check. $1200 bucks is a lot of money to a lot of people. It doesn't matter whether it was to an individual or to a business. The result is the same. So she pleaded her case initially, got probation. This is NOT a harsh sentence. Not the least bit harsh. Now for whatever reason, she leaves the state WITHOUT the permission of her probation officer. If this were some family emergency, a death for example, the PO would have granted permission with conditions. Instead she just went for whatever reason, we have yet to hear WHY she did it.
She gets picked up in the other state. First of all, she had to have been gone long enough to miss an appointment with her probation officer. PO files report that offender missed appointment, tries to call and find out what is going on, has to file a report, report goes to supervisor, THEN before a judge. This doesn't all occur in a day or two. Probably took as long as a week. So what is our time frame now? If she left right before an upcoming appointment, there is a week of the PO trying to locate her, then another week of filing all the paperwork. So she is already 2 weeks out. When the judge issues the warrant, it isn't like an APB is issued nationwide and all law enforcement is on the lookout for the offender. This was, as everyone keeps screaming a NON-VIOLENT offense, she wasn't put on America's Most Wanted, not posted in every post office across the country. The warrant is entered into the system and that is where it stays. So when she was picked up in the other state, she HAD TO HAVE BEEN DETAINED FOR SOME OTHER PURPOSE. I don't know whether it was a routine traffic stop, a bar fight, drunk and disorderly or killing some little old lady. The reason doesn't matter. A police officer picked her up in the other state because she did or was suspected of breaking some law. The officer runs what is a called a "wants and warrants" check. Officer got a hit because the warrant was in the system. So she was arrested because she violated her probation and got caught.
The only other way that it could have gone down was if someone she know reported to her PO that she had left the state and given the exact location of where she was. Of course, this means that she pissed someone off and was stupid enough to tell them what she was about to do.
She is not being incarcerated with murderers, child molesters and rapists. She is going to a minimum security facility. She will be fed, receive necessary medical treatment. She will have access to weights and fitness equipment, cable television and air conditioning. Her fellow inmates will all have committed "low risk" crimes, i.e. non-violent acts. She will be eligible for release after completing LESS THAN HALF her actual sentence.
How is this an unsuitable punishment? LIke Angel, I will not comment on the "horrendous" extradition process, as we don't have the facts. The OP only knows what his friend has told him. There is nothing to indicate that she was not permitted use of the bathroom, not given food for 28 days or left overnight chained in a prison transport van overnight. Those are the musings of someone with an overactive imagination and perhaps some prison fantasies they might want to look into. It is not reality at all. The reason for the 28 day transport is irrelevant. She was by that time arrested and no longer entitled to the liberties of the rest of the world.
As to Gypzzyqueen, there was no real dispute as to whether her identity was in question. Yes, there was a mistake regarding how many warrants, but there was indeed a warrant. She was placed in a "holding cell" with some unsavory characters and I'm sure that sucked. I do not have the exact statistics regarding acts of violence that occur in HOLDING CELLS but I am confident they are very low, even in LA.
Kittensol:
Please read above and tell me how with the explanation of how things ACTUALLY work, not the fantasies of people who have no real knowledge, how her punishment is harsh.
quote:
ORIGINAL: kittinSol
Prison for non-violent offences is morally wrong, counterproductive, furthers the cause of criminality, and costs too much money to the taxpayer.
Discuss.
This is a very bold statement. Perhaps you can share with us why you didn't see a need to offer YOUR idea of what would be a better method? It is very easy to stomp your feet and say a system is corrupt, unjust, etc. It is completely another thing to have an idea of what would be better and how to implement that change. You seem quite able to tell us everything that is wrong, but DO you have an alternative? Are you willing to help implement change? Or do you just like to complain about the injustice while sitting back and doing nothing?
Regarding the PA case, there are not enough factual details in the article you linked to form a valid opinion on the case. From the face of it, INTENT played a big part in the verdict. But one must remember, that news reports are skewed to make the most interesting story. Find the transcript and it will tell the whole story which can be commented on and explained. I'm not going to attempt to explain legal details that I'm not privy to.
As a side point....in a "community" where people choose to exist as slaves, willingly give up their rights and sometimes a lot of luxuries. Where extreme structure and rules can be the "norm" does anyone else find it a bit odd that so many people are boo hooing about someone having to abide by extreme structure and rules for less than a year?
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