Comments for Life Sentences Blog

Comment on SCOTUS: No Automatic Reversal of Conviction When Judge Improperly Participated in Plea Discussions by Michael O'Hear

Michael O'Hear — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:24:34 +0000

And, of course, there is no such thing as a “harmless error” defense to most crimes. I guess what’s good for the good is not so good for the gander.

Comment on SCOTUS: No Automatic Reversal of Conviction When Judge Improperly Participated in Plea Discussions by Michael Cicchini

Michael Cicchini — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 07:31:04 +0000

I love how there is a rule that, at first glance, seems to constrain judicial behavior in some way. (Here, the ban on judges participating in plea bargaining.) But even then, the rule has a built-in harmless error “exception,” which all but invites judges to break the rule. Why do rule makers hate rules so much? What’s wrong with just having a rule and expecting judges to follow it?

Comment on Supreme Court Review: Right to Counsel — Turner v. Rogers by Derek Syphrett

Derek Syphrett — Tue, 21 May 2013 01:06:30 +0000

Thanks for posting this.

I am going through a divorce as a pro se. I’ve done well for a pro-se according to the lawyers I’ve consulted, but I am well aware that doing well (as a man) in divorce court means that I am still losing,likely to lose, and likely to have my finances ruined for life.

Currently I am fighting for my right to be a parent and facing many obstacles related to the ebedded corruption and lack of transparency in family courts.

I’ve had my parenting time supervised because I took my son to the doctor and the doctor confirmed my son’s story about abuse by his mothers family… yet I was punished and my wife’s child support & the state’s ability to get more federal funding from my child support were increased…

YEP YOU READ THAT RIGHT – I TOOK MY SON TO THE DOCTOR AND LOST PARENTAL RIGHTS TO UNSUPERVISED VISITATION.

Later in my case my wife filed for a temporary restraining order alleging that a text that stated in its entirety “Yay, I got my trial adjourned” represented an act of Domestic Violence here in New Jersey.

She whited out / altered the text evidence submitted to the court (which wasn’t an official copy from the telephone company anyway – so therefore not admissable under the rules of evidence). The corrupt court granted the TRO and now I can’t see my children at all… for a text that said “Yay I got my trial adjourned”.

Separately, an issue with my ex girlfriend occurred recently resulting in A QUASI CRIMINAL CONTEMPT HEARING:

My ex girlfriend is bi-polar and unmedicated filed for a TRO (which was later dismissed) but claimed she received an email from me – despite not having ANY evidence that I sent the email she received.

I am now facing criminal contempt after being arrested via a warrant that states I sent anonymous emails. The Police admitted they had no proof I sent the emails, but arrested me anyway without interviewing me prior or after the arrest.

I am concerned that I have to have a hearing in a family court rather than a true criminal court without the use of the “reasonable doubt” standard but instead the “preponderance” standard.

It all seems like the state has made an effort to create easier convictions for itself by avoiding the constitutional requirements of a true criminal proceeding.

The case you cited above is very enlightening with regard to my legal challenge to these predicaments.

Thank you for posting.

I can be reached at sd00060@gmail.com

Comment on Milwaukee: The Most Dangerous Size by Noah Kovach

Noah Kovach — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:02:32 +0000

Wow these are some seriously eye opening statistics. I had no idea that it was that bad. I completely agree with your reactions to the data. It does seem a bit predictable but at the same time it is shocking.

Comment on The Sheriff Must Run the Jail, But How Do You Know Whether a Facility Is a Jail? by Matt

Matt — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:38:04 +0000

House of corrections? Ha, Judge Kahn would have your head. It may not be fondly remembered, but it is remembered as the “House of Correction”.

Comment on A Plea for 924(c) Reform by Jean Vitayanuvatti

Jean Vitayanuvatti — Sun, 12 May 2013 03:44:30 +0000

This Plea for 924 (c) Reform was posted in May of 2012 and a year later I see 4 responses which just about sums it up. Most Americans have no clue as to what’s going on in our prisons and jails. They don’t know about the huge chunk of change that the BOP sucks out of the DOJ every year and the fact that it’s growing at a fantastic rate. They’re unaware of the abuses of “solitary confinement”, Administrative Segregation, Protective segregation, and the several different kinds of segregation that all amount to the same thing…abuse in the form of sensory deprivation. Our nation’s prisons are now our largest psychiatric institution and those with mental illnesses are poorly cared for. Those inmates who are healthy in mind and spirit won’t be that way for long. A recent wave of flu and pneumonia that swept through our country late this winter, and packed my local hospital’s emergency room was magnified in our prisons. I was horrified to find out they were charging $35.00 PER TREATMENT in a federal penitentiary for pneumonia, without verifying what kind of pneumonia it was and as for those who couldn’t afford it, well that was just tough. Most of these inmates are indigent and the federal government (taxpayers) has accepted the responsibility for the medical care and feeding of the prisoners. What the inmates actually receive in the way of medical and psychiatric care is shameful. They stop the drug treatment programs but they do, however, have the funds to renovate the officer’s dining room; spare NO expense. This actually happened. Inmates, meanwhile, were walking around hacking, wheezing and spreading germs. Last year, one inmate I’ve spoken with was shaken because he witnessed the death of another inmate. Two guards stood outside the sick (pneumonia) inmate’s cell while he died and they did nothing. The penitentiary was in lockdown, and the rules specified no guard could open a cell door without a lieutenant present. So the inmate dies waiting for a lieutenant to show up. Nobody sees these things because they don’t want to look and they don’t want to know. If they knew they would be compelled to act, so it’s easier to look the other way. I have written letters to wardens, BOP Regional Directors, BOP National Directors and Senators on the Judiciary Subcommittee for the Constitution, Civil and Human Rights. I’ve had mixed success. The point is, we ARE OUR BROTHER’S KEEPER. Every single one of them. Every man, woman and child, even in the midst of their worst act, has within them the seed of restoration. I’m not advocating throwing out all punishment for wrongdoers. What I am fighting for is balance and reason within the criminal justice system. It’s all about politics and money now, with the judiciary getting dragged along behind through the mud. Being “tough on crime” may be the rhetoric of 30 and 40 years ago, long since shown to be a dangerous direction, but it still has politicians quaking in their shoes if the outdated barbs are shot in their direction. The money. Yes, the money involved in the Prison Industrial Complex and how it needs to grow with a steady influx of bodies. That’s a whole lifetime worth of issues and battles. Lastly, the precious 924 (c) charge. How Congress has played with that one. There’s the armed robbery. Then there’s the “Felon in Possession of a Firearm”. Then there’s the 924 (c). This is called overkill. I want to know how it ever came about that you could charge someone for a thought process. I always thought that unless you committed the act, it didn’t count. How can you have a gun in your belt, refuse to touch it or physically employ it in any way, and be charged as if you brandished or fired the weapon? If a man has committed 200 bank robberies and never pulled a gun in the commission of a robbery, even though he possessed one at every robbery, honestly, do you think that this robber is inclined to be very careful as to the use of his weapon? Who is more dangerous, the robber or our ex Vice President? Charge the robber for all of the bank robberies or 10 of them or 5. Charge him for being a felon in possession of a firearm in addition to these armed robberies, but then to add a charge for employment of a firearm in the commission of a crime when he did NOT employ a firearm? That’s just criminal. Remember that 21 years is about the maximum that any person would get in European countries for some serious crimes. They actually serve, on average, about 12 years. We’re so out of step, and America has the number one spot for doing many things that no country would want to be known for doing. It was time for change a long time ago. Peace.

Comment on A Plea for 924(c) Reform by joe blow

joe blow — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 18:06:27 +0000

I found myself on the wrong end of that 924c law and after serving over a decade I prison I’m out working full time and a small business on the side I work 60 to 70 hrs a week pay thousands in out of pocket taxes to pay for poor financial decisions by our government and neverending entitlement programs because a good chunk of our population has been taught live on welfare, the fed prison system is a dismal failure its a warehouse with no rehabilatation whatsoever I’m very lucky I made it out and a success but the system almost guarantees inmates to fail once released so I can sympathize with a case like this and many others

Comment on Posner on Stephen: Punishment, Hatred, Struggle, and Power by sean samis

sean samis — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:31:15 +0000

The “might makes right” not only underlies much of our law, criminals who thinks themselves “strong enough” do what they can, the rest of us must suffer the consequences. As long as “good” people employ this evil rationale, how can it be a surprise those who are “not good” do the same? Thus the cycle of violence, of crime and punishment is fueled.

Sigh.

Comment on People Want Criminals to Suffer, Even If It Is “Useless” by sean samis

sean samis — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:57:43 +0000

I would be interested in whether there is any relationship between a person’s religiousity and their desire for punishment. Even when punishment is “useless (in the sense of lacking a deterrent or incapacitative justification)” some religious persons might feel that it is useful for the person being punished. I don’t share this belief, but I am aware of some persons who do.

The comment on the effect of imposing harsh punishments on theoretical cases and on actual persons is also important. How one would test this empirically I am not sure.

Comment on Seventh Circuit Upholds Indiana’s Restrictions on Inmate Pen-Pals by prison pen pals

prison pen pals — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 06:27:12 +0000

This is a great post . thanks for sharing with us .