Child molestor gets 60 days ,other guy gets 55 years for 500$ of weed

[montana500]

The 10th circuit court really frightens the heck out of me.


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/11/national/11sentence.html

"Prison Term of 55 Years for Drugs Is Upheld
By KIRK JOHNSON
Published: January 11, 2006
DENVER, Jan. 10 - A federal appeals court has upheld a 55-year prison term imposed on a Utah man with no criminal record who was convicted in 2003 of selling several hundred dollars worth of marijuana on three occasions."



http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?s=4325804


"Vermont Judge Edward Cashman is coming under fire for handing out a light sentence to a child rapist.

The judge says did it because he no longer believes in punishment and he wants to speed the rapist's entry into a rehabilitation program.

Judge Cashman's short sentence for an admitted child molester triggered immediate public and political reaction with some lawmakers saying he should leave the bench."

[ComerPerro]

1. About that 60-day sentence

I don't know any of the details of the case, but I suspect there is more to the story. The reason I think there is probably more to it is because I heard OhReally ranting and raving about it yesterday. He is notorious for hiding the details of events so he can spin them to his viewpoint (War on Christmas, anyone?) and he was using this case to further his agenda of (1) Pretending that he gives a shit about children, and (2) Blaming all of society's problems on secularism and/or liberalism.

[RagingInMiami]

8. Perhaps there is more to the story

Maybe the defendant is the Judge's brother-in-law.

[ComerPerro]

10. LOL. That's one angle.

:hi:

[ixion]

2. violent crime, save for murder, is generally more tolerated

you look at assault, rape, robbery and so on, and compare those to sentences for non-violent offenders tagged with 'conpiracy to deliver', or to those who get caught with acid, and you will find a HUGE discrepancy between the sentence lengths.

It's morality legislation run wild, thanks to the so-called War on Drugs, one of the many never-ending wars against abstractions that have been used to shred civil liberties.

[Little Star]

5. The phrase "war on"

anything should be outlawed! Seems to me this administration has used twisted wording to sell or to justify any of their actions. What a world!:eyes:

[A Simple Game]

9. I agree completely.

The word war has lost most if not all of its shock value. This is not a good thing when you are talking about an actual "war".

[ixion]

11. exactly

what started as an advertising slogan has become a political tool that is actually trying to redefine the true definition of 'war'.

It's a dangerous slope that we should cease to tolerate in debate, IMO.

[Maine-ah]

3. gotta just love it

WTF? Fucking legalize it! Tax it, sell it like cigs.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. Welcome to America. nt

[htuttle]

6. I've known of child molesters released in order to narc on pot growers

Met a guy once in Montana many years ago (late '80's, the height of CAMP activity) who we learned had been released early from prison for child molestation. Part of his release agreement was that he'd inform on people growing pot in Montana (needless to say, we were all horrified upon learning this, both his previous offense and his 'narc' duties, and the fellow was 'ostracized', so to speak...). (don't worry, we didn't actually kill him...).

So there you have it. I don't think this was an anomaly -- it appears to be policy in many places.

[RagingInMiami]

7. So why didn't the first case getr thrown out?

"The appeals panel did conclude that the police, in searching Mr. Angelos's home, had exceeded the limits of a search warrant as they looked for the source of a strong marijuana smell."

And in the second case, if the judge no longer believes in punishment, then he should step down.