Rockefeller Drug Laws: Big Changes Ahead

F

FUCK THE POLICE

911 EVERY DAY
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2009/2/28/201026/871

Rockefeller Drug Laws: Big Changes Ahead
By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy


In the good news department, New York's draconian Rockefeller drug laws are expected to take a big blow this week as the legislature is poised to pass new laws granting judges more discretion in sentencing.

The Assembly is expected to pass legislation on Tuesday that would once again give judges the discretion to send those found guilty of having smaller amounts of illegal drugs to substance-abuse treatment instead of prison and allow thousands of inmates convicted of nonviolent drug offenses to apply to have their sentences reduced or commuted.

Meanwhile, the governor’s office is preparing legislation that it plans to present to Senate leaders on Monday that would also give judges discretion in sentencing, according to a senior administration official involved in drafting the bills. But for now, the governor is not taking a position on whether sentences should be reduced for some prisoners.
Click to expand...

Mandatory minimums were a terrible and unjust solution to the problems that plagued New York in the '70's. I hope the legislators hold firm and make relief retroactive to those already serving these awful sentences. [More...]

Some prosecutors are opposed:

“The district attorney’s input would be taken out of the equation,” said Bridget G. Brennan, the special narcotics prosecutor for New York City. “When I look at cases, I want to have the discretion as gatekeeper, to make sure that somebody I put back out in the community is not going to pose a public safety threat. A district attorney has a much clearer picture of a community’s concerns.”
Click to expand...

Baloney. She doesn't want to be a gatekeeper, she wants to be the judge, and it's not her job.
 
Last edited:
It would be a good thing if some of these older laws were loosend. For example the fact that that chick who shot Buttafuco's wife in the face can only get a few years in jail but someone with small amounts of coke to distribute can get double to triple that is just not right.
 
but then the right will say they are legislating from the bench.

Three strike laws and this stupid bullshit of manditory drug sentences have cost us dearly for years now.
 
evince said:
but then the right will say they are legislating from the bench.

Three strike laws and this stupid bullshit of manditory drug sentences have cost us dearly for years now.
Click to expand...

Three strikes law is in California. Rockefeller was in New York. Three strike law was voted on by California's voters. The same voters who voted for Obama by over 20% more than McCain. And I'm sorry it offends you that people who commit three violent crimes in California go to jail for a long time. And as BAC said, your boy Clinton put more blacks in jail for drugs than any Republican has. Kind of hard to swallow huh?
 
Controversial results
Some unusual scenarios have arisen, particularly in California — the state punishes shoplifting and similar crimes involving over $500 in property as felony petty theft if the person who committed the crime has a prior conviction for any form of theft, including robbery or burglary. As a result, some defendants have been given sentences of 25 years to life in prison for such crimes as shoplifting golf clubs (Gary Ewing, previous strikes for burglary and robbery with a knife), nine videotapes (Leandro Andrade, received double sentence of 25 year-to-life for 2 counts of shoplifting), or, along with a violent assault, a slice of pepperoni pizza from a group of children (Jerry Dewayne Williams, four previous non-violent felonies, sentence later reduced to six years).

In one particularly notorious case, Kevin Weber was sentenced to 26 years to life for the crime of stealing four chocolate chip cookies (previous strikes of burglary and assault with a deadly weapon).[9] However, prosecutors said the six-time parole violator broke into the restaurant to rob the safe after a busy Mother's Day holiday, but he triggered the alarm system before he could do it. When arrested, his pockets were full of cookies he had taken from the restaurant.[10]

In California, first and second strikes are counted by individual charges, rather than individual cases, so a defendant may have been charged and convicted of "first and second strikes", potentially many more than two such strikes, arising from a single case, even one that was disposed of prior to the passage of the law. Convictions from all 50 states and the federal courts at any point in the defendant's past, as well as juvenile offenses that would otherwise be sealed can be counted (although once a juvenile record is sealed, it cannot be "unsealed;" it does not exist any longer and there is no longer any record to be used as a prior conviction), regardless of the date of offense or conviction or whether the conviction was the result of a plea bargain.
 
Last edited:
evince said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_strikes_law

look at the years they were passed by the voting public?

OK you fucking fool you have just proved you dont even know the law.

Its not restricted to violent crimes.
Click to expand...

Ok, what do the years have to do with anything?

And yes I do know the law Desh thank you. I've lived in the state since 1981. It's good to see you recognize the difference between laws passed in New York and California though.
 
evince said:
1993 and 1994 ring a bell?

they were the years that the Rs lead a lying ass campaign to take back the leadership of the congress.
Click to expand...

jesus h christ you fucking idiot. CALIFORNIA residents voted on a STATE 3 strikes law, not the US house of representatives. good god moron. Don't you know that Cali is full of liberal assholes and THEY voted that law in?
 
evince said:
1993 and 1994 ring a bell?

they were the years that the Rs lead a lying ass campaign to take back the leadership of the congress.
Click to expand...

LMAO!!! Wow!!! Seriously???

So there's your conspiracy theory Desh. Polly Klaus's killer who was a multiple times felonist was just a plant by the Republicans to get California voters to pass a three strike law.

If it weren't so sad this would be funny.

All joking aside Desh I would literally pay you to come to some Republican events with me so I could show some Republicans I know their Democratic equivalent. It would do some individuals on the Republican side a lot of good if they knew they were just like you.
 
SmarterThanYou said:
jesus h christ you fucking idiot. CALIFORNIA residents voted on a STATE 3 strikes law, not the US house of representatives. good god moron. Don't you know that Cali is full of liberal assholes and THEY voted that law in?
Click to expand...

No, Cali is extremely conservative on some issues, the fascist three strikes law being one.

However, there is a fascist federal three strikes law as well.
 
cawacko said:
LMAO!!! Wow!!! Seriously???

So there's your conspiracy theory Desh. Polly Klaus's killer who was a multiple times felonist was just a plant by the Republicans to get California voters to pass a three strike law.
Click to expand...

Did you know that Polly Klaus's father a few years back advocated for the change in the three strikes law that "liberal" Californians rejected in 2004?

Sensationalism strikes again!
 
Point is, both Rockerfeller drug laws and Three Strikes are both evil sensationalist crap that will be repealed one day and deservedly spat on in the annals of history as one of the worst examples of what sensationalism does to society.
 
Watermark said:
Did you know that Polly Klaus's father a few years back advocated for the change in the three strikes law that "liberal" Californians rejected in 2004?

Sensationalism strikes again!
Click to expand...

Ok, and what does that have to do with Desh's claim that the reason the three strikes law passed in California was because Republicans took over Congress nationally in the same year?

Unless you are privy to information I'm not the other 49 states don't vote in California elections.
 
cawacko said:
Ok, and what does that have to do with Desh's claim that the reason the three strikes law passed in California was because Republicans took over Congress nationally in the same year?

Unless you are privy to information I'm not the other 49 states don't vote in California elections.
Click to expand...

LOL
 
Watermark said:
Point is, both Rockerfeller drug laws and Three Strikes are both evil sensationalist crap that will be repealed one day and deservedly spat on in the annals of history as one of the worst examples of what sensationalism does to society.
Click to expand...

no. the 3 strikes law was a great idea, just horribly misapplied. it should only have been used for violent crimes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top