Saturday, January 20, 2007

A Tale of Two Extremes

Found on MySA.com:


The Texas parole board has recommended Gov. Rick Perry free a Dallas man serving a life sentence for violating probation when he was a teenager by testing positive for marijuana.
When I first read that headline, and then the first paragraph, I thought "Wow, that is a bit extreme". Life for popping positive on a piss test... most definitely a bit much.

Then comes the next extreme:

The board voted 5-2 Friday in favor of Tyrone Brown, who was arrested in 1990 when he was 17. He held a man up at gunpoint and robbed him of $2. Brown pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years probation.

A month after his probation began, Brown tested positive for marijuana. Prosecutors made no sentencing recommendation, while Brown's court-appointed lawyer asked the judge to send his client to boot camp, according to a court transcript.
Probation for armed robbery? Then ask for boot camp when he breaks probation? This is what I am talking about when I mention our "revolving door justice system". Do you want to reduce the amount of violent crimes that are committed with firearms? Then lock up the folks who commit those crimes for a good, long time.

This guy has been in prison for 16 years or so, that is the low end of the sentence he should have received for the armed robbery, but excessive for smoking pot. If the first judge would have done his job, then this would not have happened:

Instead, Judge Keith Dean decided on a life sentence and, according to a court transcript, said "Good luck, Mr. Brown."
Should Mr. Brown receive a pardon? I really do not have a good answer for that question. I would not be opposed to letting him out of prison on probation instead of a full pardon. I am sure that he now fully understands the consequences of violating his parole in the future.

1 comment:

Fits said...

Should Mr. Brown be released, stats suggest that he will commit crimes influencing 30 or more people before aprehension or death in the streets.

Send the Mr. Browns to work details building more prisons, and a good loop would begin.