Life in prison for stealing a $159 jacket

[Th1onein]

Last edited Sun Dec 8, 2013, 08:31 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.alternet.org/man-was-sentenced-die-prison-shoplifting-159-jacket-happens-more-you-think

November 13, 2013 |

At about 12.40pm on 2 January 1996, Timothy Jackson took a jacket from the Maison Blanche department store in New Orleans, draped it over his arm, and walked out of the store without paying for it. When he was accosted by a security guard, Jackson said: “I just needed another jacket, man.”

A few months later Jackson was convicted of shoplifting and sent to Angola prison in Louisiana. That was 16 years ago. Today he is still incarcerated in Angola, and will stay there for the rest of his natural life having been condemned to die in jail. All for the theft of a jacket, worth $159.


These people are worth more in prison, to the private corrections companies, than they are outside of prison, to society.

[silverweb]

1. This is so very wrong.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]

[Incitatus]

2. For profit prisons are the new slavery.

States will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to private companies so they can sell their labor. It is inhumane and just plain fiscally stupid. There are better ways to punish shoplifters, even if done multiple times.

[wercal]

7. He was a habitual offender...and based on his admnission he was high, my guess

is he was an addict. The system has chosen to incarcerate rather than treat drug addicts.

Addiction treatment can be very expensive....but probably a lot less expensive than 16 years in prison.

IMHO, anyone who is convicted of 3 or 4 felonies is addicted to something, or has some dependency issues. I think treatment should be offered, in lieu of the life sentence...and that treatment can even occur in jail. It would be cheaper in the long run.

[indepat]

13. Some how don't believe stealing a $159 coat on four occasions rises to a life-in-prison sentence at

a societal cost of +/- $1 million. It is not cost effective nor should it be permissible under the constitutional proscription of cruel and unusual punishment. At the same time, I realize this is 21st-century (PNAC) 'murika in which many others, in addition to junior, seem to look upon our Constitution as just a piece of paper.

[Terra Alta]

3. Steal a jacket and go to prison for life

But kill an unarmed black kid and get off scot-free.

Unbelievable.

[bhikkhu]

4. That is the intended result of the "three strikes you're out" rules

Which the article might mention if they wanted to actually inform people. Three strikes you're out really sucks, but its hard to effectively oppose it if you don't know about it. Journalism should inform, and if it is something that makes people mad, it should also inform people about what they are actually angry at.

[wercal]

6. Deep into the article, it mentions LA has a 'four strikes' law.

[seveneyes]

12. three strikes should be reserved for violent crimes

Crimes where someone harms another without due cause. One strike if it ruins another life.

[indepat]

14. The Supreme Court imo should have been all over "three strikes and you are out" sentencing like ugly

on an ape, but doubt the "felonious five" would buy into my thesis.

[wercal]

5. Couldn't the Governor of LA, or the POTUS commute his sentence?

And others like his?

If there is anything on the horizon that has bipartisan support, I believe sentencing reform is it. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are in favor of it (pushed by the libertarian wings of their respective parties).

I will note a common thread in most of these cases - drugs. This man admits to being high at the time of the theft...and it was his 4th offense...probably caught up in a spiral of needing to steal for his habit. Instead of 16 years (and counting), he should have been offered a 6 month stay at the county jail, with drug treatment.

[davidn3600]

8. Private prison industry needs the cells full in order to make money

America has, easily, the highest rate of incarceration in the world. There are corporations that make money off of incarcerating people. These corporations have VERY good lobbyists that push and push and push for more mandatory minimums, more longer sentencing, and for the states to put more facilities under private control. And they flood the coffers of candidates during elections. Those candidates then run on a platform of being tough on crime. And the voters eat it up because in America our public wants prisoners to suffer.

So it creates a perfect storm situation for rampant corruption. And that's what is happening.

Nearly 30 states have turned many of the healthcare in their prison facilities over to private entities. These companies care about nothing else but profit. The standard of medical care would rival the 3rd world in many of these places. Many inmates will tell you its been years since their blood pressure was checked. Inmates with diabetes are not getting insulin. Cancer symptoms are being ignored. Primitive methods are being used to treat injuries and infections. Serious illnesses are being ignored. The list goes on and on and you can get more info from places like the ACLU. But because of the corruption, nothing ever happens. Much of this gets swept under the rug. And ultimately, the public doesn't give a crap.

There is bipartisan support growing in some places. Even Rand Paul wants the prison system reformed.

[FarCenter]

9. Angola is operated by the state of Louisiana

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_State_Penitentiary

[davidn3600]

11. Yeah but you grant pardons to only state-owned facilities and not private facilities

...that makes things a bit obvious.

[seveneyes]

10. Yep, still true

There were several threads here a couple of weeks ago about it.

[Fla_Democrat]

15. Maybe he should have moved to Lexington, Kentucky....

http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/29622474.html

He's hit another a milestone. A Lexington man, famous for how many times he's been arrested, took his 1,000th trip to jail.

Police arrested Henry Earl for alcohol intoxication, a charge he's faced hundreds of times before.

Earl is a pseudo-celebrity because of his extensive record. He's been featured on late night talk shows and has several websites dedicated to tracking his arrest record.






They seem to have skipped any "# strikes law".