Mississippi Jails People For Months With No Charges

[Newsjock]

Source: Gawker

Even in 2014, it is still possible to come across facts about the American justice system that stagger even the most cynical of minds. For example: do you know how long people are sitting in jail in Mississippi without being charged with a crime?

... In the great state of Mississippi, your experience might be somewhat different. The ACLU yesterday filed a lawsuit against Scott County, Mississippi, charging that the way they handle prisoners violates their right to a fair and speedy trial.

... You could, as a matter of course and not as anything out of the ordinary, be arrested for a crime in Scott County, Mississippi and spend six months in jail waiting to be indicted and then have a grand jury conclude that they will not charge you with a crime after all. This would be considered a fair outcome under a normally functioning system of criminal justice. That is so fucked up that it should blow your mind if you possess even the faintest ability to put yourself in the shoes of someone in Scott County, Mississippi.

Read more: http://gawker.com/mississippi-jails-people-for-months-with-no-charges-1639040186

[Ichingcarpenter]

1. Attorney General Holder is on the case

Or maybe not.

[blkmusclmachine]

2. What about Due Process and Speedy Trial and ???

[tazkcmo]

3. tsk tsk

That's not for you and I. Silly person.

[herding cats]

7. That's the grounds for the ACLU's case.

This is a violation of the 6th amendment. I certainly agree with them.

Did you read the link to the ACLU in the article? It's enough to make your head explode when you see what they've been doing to citizens there.

Octavious Burks has been waiting for 10 months.

He's locked in a jail in Scott County, Mississippi. He hasn't been formally charged. He hasn't been assigned an attorney.

This is a recurring nightmare for Octavious: The same thing happened in 2009 and 2012. In each case, he was held for roughly a year.

Each time, he was eventually released without a trial or a conviction.

Octavious has spent over three years of his life locked in a cell without ever being formally charged – let alone found guilty – of a crime.

<>

Octavious is not alone in the darkness – dozens of people are locked in the Scott County jail, without attorneys or formal charges. And this problem isn't confined to one jail in one county. People statewide are losing months and sometimes years of their lives to a glacial justice system. That means years without work. Years without being able to care for their families. Years without knowing when the ordeal will end. All without the state having to prove a thing.

The Constitution protects you from being arbitrarily imprisoned on a mere allegation. When you're accused of a crime, you have a right to an attorney, even if you can't afford one. You have a right to a speedy trial. Scott County cannot pretend as if the Constitution doesn't apply in its courts. That's why the ACLU yesterday filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Octavious and others trapped in the Scott County jail, demanding that local judges, sheriffs, and district attorneys change the way they do business.

[Solly Mack]

4. K&R

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. Glad to see you posting Solly

sending good vibes for your improving health.

[Solly Mack]

6. Thank you, Ichingcarpenter :o)

Much appreciated!

[onethatcares]

8. one quetchun.

how many white folk are sitting in those jails?

[uponit7771]

9. So does nor texas... MONTHS.. without a case or trial

[rafeh1]

10. its called a criminal justice system

its called a criminal justice system for a reason.
Because it is a criminal Justice system or for those who still dont get it its a system of criminal justice. where the rich criminals go free while the poor innocent plea bargain. Sitting in jail for 6 mo vs plea bargain and get out in 2 months? If you are poor and have family to take care off hardly a choice

[rafeh1]

11. And the primary amendment that applies is

Innocent until you run out of money