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Prison 2007 News & Views |
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Prison 2007 News & Views |
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Current News & Views Click Headline for Full Story
December 2007
Release sickest prison inmates
12-24-07 -- Attorney General Mike Cox won his office in part by promising to be tough on lawbreakers. . . . But in objecting to the release of some dying and severely sick prison inmates, Cox is acting more like a bully. . . . Gov. Jennifer Granholm's administration plans to review, for possible release next year, the cases of 500 sick, dying and elderly inmates, partly to ease Michigan's budget crisis. Last year alone, the sickest 300 prisoners cost the state $30 million. This year, Granholm has approved nine medical commutations -- as many as she had in the previous four years. . . . Different standards . . . It's clear, however, that Granholm and Cox are not on the same page. Since late July, Cox's office, after rarely objecting to these releases, has opposed half of the commutations proposed by the administration. Cox spokesman Rusty Hills said the Attorney General's Office is applying consistent criteria, taking into account the nature of the crime, the degree of the inmate's physical and mental impairment, the wishes of the crime victims, and the amount of prison time served.
Two more freed in Genarlow Wilson case 12-22-07 -- The state Board of Pardons and Paroles on Friday granted parole to two young men in the Genarlow Wilson case, ending prison sentences for all but one of the "Douglasville Six" in a case that drew national attention and led to a change in sex offense laws in Georgia. . . . Ryan D. Barnwell and Cortez Robinson, both 22, were released from prison Friday morning after 3 1/2 years behind bars. . . . "It's a great day. The family is ecstatic," said Barnwell's cousin, Norman Broadnax. "It's a great Christmas present having him home." . . . Wilson was freed from prison Oct. 26 after the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that his 10-year sentence for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl was "cruel and unusual punishment."
High court gives judge 30 days to act
12-22-07 -- The Missouri Supreme Court ordered a St. Louis judge on Friday to either dismiss charges against a man accused of tampering with a motor vehicle or give him a trial in the next 30 days. . . . Tracy McKee, 42, has been asking for a speedy trial since September 2006, about a month after he was arraigned in St. Louis Circuit Court. Since then, five trial dates were scheduled and then postponed. Court records do not explain the delays, according to the Supreme Court. . . . In total, McKee filed five motions without his lawyer, seeking a speedy trial or that the charges be dismissed. He has been in jail since his arrest June 4, 2006. . . . "Since each continued trial date prompted Mr. McKee to file another motion for speedy trial, it seems evidence that none of these continuances were entered at his request," Chief Justice Laura Denvir-Stith wrote in the opinion.
U.S. appellate court overturns state murder conviction Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer 12-21-07 -- A federal appeals court overturned a Santa Rosa woman's murder conviction Wednesday for killing a man during an attempted carjacking in 1996, saying she had been forced to go to trial with a lawyer she wanted to replace. . . . Nicole Bradley was 18 when she and two juveniles were arrested for the fatal shooting of James Strickler Jr., 19, of Santa Rosa. The court said Bradley had shot Strickler unintentionally, but she was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 35 years to life in prison for a homicide committed in the course of another felony. . . . Bradley's lawyer quit before the trial, and a Sonoma County judge appointed a replacement in a hearing from which Bradley and her chosen lawyer were excluded. When Bradley sought to dismiss the new lawyer because of conflicts, Superior Court Judge Knoel Owen refused, saying the trial had already been delayed by almost two years and it wasn't clear Bradley could pay for her own lawyer.
12-19-07 -- Mass incarcerations without trial or charge; forced confessions; children forcibly separated from their parents with no reasons given; doctored hearing transcripts and falsified court records; evidence fabricated against the innocent; government agents entering the homes, examining private papers and personal effects, and seizing the property of citizens who are under no suspicion of legal wrongdoing; special courts created specifically to convict people who cannot be convicted in ordinary courts; children instructed to hate their parents by state functionaries: Is all this the Soviet Union in the 1930s or Communist China in the 1960s? Is this some novelist’s prognosticated dystopia? No, all this and more is routine in the United States today. . . . Among the most disturbing tales to come out of totalitarianism were the revelations of how both Nazi and Communist governments intruded into family life. The practice of governments dictating to parents what they could tell their children or using children as informers against their parents strikes us as chilling and unnatural. Yet similar practices are occurring in America today on a much more massive scale. . . . What we are talking about here is family law, a secretive political underworld of which few are aware until it strikes them. Parents summoned to family court discover that their children can be taken away, they can be forced to turn over all their property without explanation to government officials and their private clients, their future earnings can be confiscated to the point where they are unable to house or feed themselves, and they can be incarcerated without trial – all without any evidence or even charge that they have committed any actionable offense.
Judge: Treating the Mentally ill Is Better than Jailing Them
12-12-07 -- A groundbreaking proposal designed to keep mentally ill people from winding up in jails and prisons will not result in dangerous patients being put back on the streets, a judge assured lawmakers Tuesday. . . . A subcommittee created by the Florida Supreme Court, but also including legislative and executive branch members, has proposed using Medicaid dollars and shifting money spent on treating mentally incompetent people after they are arrested to ramping up care outside the criminal justice system. . . . Such civil treatment would be expected to prevent mentally ill people from getting arrested in the first place, but Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, was worried about the potential consequences of placing more patients in community-based facilities. . . . "Sometimes there's a slip up and they wander," Lynn said. "Sometimes there's a slip up, they don't take their meds. You end up with them hurting themselves, seriously hurting others." . . . Miami-Dade County Judge Steven Leifman, who heads the Supreme Court's mental health subcommittee, said patients who do have such problems then would be hospitalized until they are able to return to community care. Inmate told judge he'd kill him, his family
12-12-07 -- Without blinking his eyes, 27-year-old Tyrone LaMont Summers vowed to carry out his threat of killing Circuit Judge Brian Lambert if he's ever released. . . . "Once I get out, I'm going to go look for him. He should be worried," Summers said. . . . Already in the Marion County Jail since Aug. 22 on a charge of capital sexual battery where he has no bond, Summers was charged Tuesday with threatening a public servant. . . . Summers reportedly sent a threatening letter to the judge from the jail. The judge opened and read the letter on Dec. 10. It was signed by Summers. . . . Detective Donald Buie of the Sheriff's Office interviewed Summers who admitted to writing the letter "because he was pissed off at Judge Lambert," his report noted. . . . In a Star-Banner interview, Summers said he wants to harm the judge because he believes he has mishandled his sex case. . . . "I didn't do it. It's a bunch of lies and he knows it and he doesn't want to do anything about it," Summers said.
New law to set Hawaii killer's prison term
12-12-07 -- Convicted murderer John K. Lorenzo Jr. will be the central figure in two test cases of a new state law that allows longer prison sentences for certain convicted felons. . . . This morning, the jury that convicted Lorenzo last month of murdering off-duty state Deputy Sheriff Daniel Browne-Sanchez will re-convene to decide whether Lorenzo should receive an "extended sentence" of life without the possibility of parole. . . . The normal sentence for a conviction of second-degree murder is life with the possibility of parole. . . . It's the first time a Hawai'i jury rather than a judge will decide whether an "extended sentence" is warranted by the circumstances of the case or the felon's previous record.
Linking cause to effect, 41 years on The prosecution's burden: The police officer was shot in 1966. A coroner ruled the death in August homicide.
12-10-07 -- More than 40 years have passed since William Barnes shot rookie Police Officer William Barclay. It was an act that dramatically altered both of their lives - sentencing one to a life of partial paralysis and the other to 20 years in prison - and the effects of those bullets are still being felt. . . . Barclay died in a Middletown hospital in August at age 67, and the Bucks County coroner ruled his death a homicide from that long-ago shooting. Barnes, 71, then living in a halfway house, was charged with murder. A preliminary hearing to determine whether the case should go to trial is scheduled for tomorrow at the Criminal Justice Center. . . . The case has drawn national attention: The Washington Post and Toledo Blade weighed in with editorials advocating Barnes' release. Lancaster's Intelligencer Journal asked readers for their opinions during its weekly phone poll: 80 percent of respondents said Barnes should not be tried for murder.
Barrington man goes to prison for failing to make court-ordered payments to Warwick assault victim
12-7-07 -- With the click of handcuffs, a Barrington man was taken from the courtroom and sent to state prison yesterday because he failed to make court-ordered payments to a Warwick man whose skull he cracked in a 1988 brawl. . . . Paul D. Grieder, 42, who lives with his parents on Linden Road, must serve 30 days at the Adult Correctional Institutions for willful contempt of court because he did not make payments to Michael P. Trainor during a portion of 2002. . . . Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Procaccini told Grieder that people “who are far more disadvantaged than you” come to the courthouse every day to pay fines and other court-ordered payments. . . . “You simply refuse to do so,” Procaccini said. “You work. You are able bodied. The key to your jail cell is in your pocket. Apparently, it is going to remain in your pocket for the next 30 days.” . . . Since a 1992 civil judgment, Grieder has paid about $21,000 toward the $1.5 million he owes Trainor for the assault, which occurred outside a Providence nightclub and left Trainor with a loss of hearing. With interest, the debt now totals nearly $5 million. . . . Procaccini told Grieder, “You have had ample opportunity to comply with various orders of this court.” . . . He noted that in 2002, now-retired Judge Stephen J. Fortunato Jr. ordered Grieder to pay Trainor $400 per month, but he said Grieder did not comply and was found in contempt of court. . . . In 2004, Procaccini tried to double Grieder’s obligation to $800 per month, saying Grieder is “able bodied, educated and highly employable, far more than he is presently employed.” Lawyers have said Grieder paid Trainor a lump sum of $5,800 in 2004 and made monthly payments for a time before payments became sporadic and then stopped.
Poor medical care at Nevada prison cited Inmates at the Ely facility have been denied help for heart problems, diabetes and other serious medical conditions, records show.
12-6-07 -- When Nevada death row inmate Charles Randolph asked for a specific medicine to address his heart condition earlier this year, Max Carter, the prison's physician assistant, sent a curt reply: The medication was the wrong kind and potentially lethal, but he would be happy to prescribe it "so that your chances of expiring sooner are increased." . . . When another prisoner, John O. Snow, asked for pills in July to ease the pain from his deteriorating joints, Carter's denial came with another stinging missive, stating that he was "gonna let you suffer." . . . To many prison observers, Carter's responses exemplify the callous indifference custody officials at the maximum-security Ely State Prison have for sick prisoners. There has been no staff doctor to handle the medical needs of any the 1,000 inmates here for more than 18 months. Carter is the highest-ranking medical worker at the men's prison; the last staff doctor was a gynecologist. . . . According to interviews and records obtained by The Times, prisoners at Ely have been denied care for heart problems, diabetes and other serious medical conditions. Earlier this year, a nurse was fired after complaining about substandard care at the facility, which she said led to one inmate needlessly dying of gangrene.
Both sides cheer court's prison program ruling
12-5-07 -- (BP)--Both sides of a church-state legal battle found something to celebrate in a federal appeals court's opinion on a Christian ministry in an Iowa prison. . . . The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in St. Louis, ruled Dec. 3 that a federal judge was correct in deciding the state's support of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative operated by Prison Fellowship violated the bans on government establishment of religion in both the U.S. and Iowa constitutions. The court, however, reversed the part of Judge Robert Pratt's 2006 decision that ordered Prison Fellowship to shut down the program and return to the state $1.5 million it received to help run it. . . . Both sides indicated they do not expect to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, The Washington Post reported.
Our justice system is badly flawed, Mistrett says
12-03-07 -- Attorney Joseph B. Mistrett said he has enjoyed being part of the federal court system for the past 23 years because he likes and respects the people he has worked with. . . . But Mistrett, who retired Friday from his job as the region’s chief federal public defender, feels the nation’s justice system is badly flawed. . . . He said he leaves with a sense of frustration over a system that imprisons people in record numbers but, in his view, fails to address the sociological problems that cause crime. . . . “We’ve put two million people into prisons throughout this country, but is it doing any good?” Mistrett asked in a recent interview. “Does anyone really think that we have less drug trafficking than we did before this drug war started 30 or 40 years ago?” . . . Mistrett blames the failings of the system on misplaced government priorities. Let's Put the "Justice" Back in Our Juvenile Justice System Marian Wright Edelman 12-3-07 -- Although she had no prior criminal record, 14-year-old Shaquanda Cotton was sentenced in 2006 to up to seven years in correctional detention for shoving a teacher's aide in the small town of Paris in East Texas. Another 14-year-old girl was sentenced by the same judge to probation after she was convicted of the serious crime of arson. Shaquanda is Black and the other girl is White. Shaquanda was imprisoned at the Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Complex in Brownwood, Texas, under an indeterminate sentence that could have lasted until her 21st birthday. Fortunately she was released in March 2007, having spent a year behind bars, after a wave of protests from civil rights groups prompted officials to intervene. Shaquanda's case is just one of many reflecting the racial inequity in America's juvenile justice system, which funnels low-income children of color into the Cradle to Prison Pipeline and unnecessary detention. . . . The Pipeline, which sucks many young people into adult criminal justice systems, runs through economically depressed neighborhoods, failing schools, across vacant lots where playgrounds and health facilities should be, and in and out of broken, understaffed child welfare agencies. By the time many children get arrested and are brought before a juvenile court, they have been provided far too little loving and thoughtful adult support only to face purported child serving systems that treat them unjustly.
Serving Life for Providing Car to Killers American Exception
12-3-07 -- Early in the morning of March 10, 2003, after a raucous party that lasted into the small hours, a groggy and hungover 20-year-old named Ryan Holle lent his Chevrolet Metro to a friend. That decision, prosecutors later said, was tantamount to murder. . . The friend used the car to drive three men to the Pensacola home of a marijuana dealer, aiming to steal a safe. The burglary turned violent, and one of the men killed the dealer’s 18-year-old daughter by beating her head in with a shotgun he found in the home. . . . Mr. Holle was a mile and a half away, but that did not matter. . . .. He was convicted of murder under a distinctively American legal doctrine that makes accomplices as liable as the actual killer for murders committed during felonies like burglaries, rapes and robberies.
S.C. Department of Corrections has been sued 734 times since 2003
12-3-07 -- It is his seventh year of a life sentence for armed robbery, and already Eric Samuel has lost his underwear. . . . The 38-year-old Charleston man switched prisons in July 2006. His underwear, cooler, coffee pot, fan and typewriter were lost in the move. . . . To Samuel, it was a clear violation of his “fifth amendment constitutional rights.” . . . So he took his sick call notes, flipped them over on the blank side and wrote out a lawsuit in all capital letters with black ink. . . . He is asking for $279.74 to cover the cost of his belongings and an additional $5,500 for his trouble. . . . The case was one of seven lawsuits Samuel filed in 2006 against the S.C. Department of Corrections, and one of 11 he has filed since his prison sentence began in 2000. Three of his cases are pending. . . . Each year, inmates file hundreds of lawsuits against the Department of Corrections, department spokesman Josh Gelinas said. Most are carefully handwritten on sheets of notebook paper, or whatever loose leaves the inmates have to spare.
November 2007
Stop Abuse and Suicides In
Pennsylvania prisons From: Lucidreeme@aol.com Here is a really important petition. Inmates lives are at stake. Please read, sign and spread. The more signatures the more they will listen.
http://www.thepetit
Georgia court overturns ban on sex offenders living near areas where children congregate
11-26-07 --Georgia's top court overturned a state law Wednesday that banned registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools, churches and other areas where children congregate. . . . "It is apparent that there is no place in Georgia where a registered sex offender can live without being continually at risk of being ejected," read the unanimous opinion, written by presiding Justice Carol Hunstein. . . . The law had been targeted by civil rights groups who argued it would render vast residential areas off-limits to Georgia's roughly 11,000 registered sex offenders and could backfire by encouraging offenders to stop reporting their whereabouts to authorities.
Judge skips guidelines, releases man in crack case Long prison sentence hurts blacks, she says
11-20-07 -- A federal judge has freed a Boston man who pleaded guilty to selling small amounts of crack cocaine, saying that he dealt the drugs out of desperation and that long prison sentences for such crimes often do more harm to black communities than good. . . . US District Judge Nancy Gertner sentenced Myles Haynes to the 13 months he has served in jail since his arrest. She said that he appeared to be an honest man whose two admitted drug sales were isolated and that lengthy federal prison terms for such crimes are depleting cities of a generation of young black men. . . . "Isn't it time for us to say that there is on the one hand the impact of the drug trafficking and on the other hand the impact of mass incarceration of African-Americans from crack cocaine?" Gertner said from the bench Monday. "To suggest that the public safety requires the further incarceration of Mr. Haynes makes no sense." . . . Gertner then set aside sentencing guidelines that could have kept Haynes behind bars an extra 20 to 28 months. While federal judges sometimes depart from guidelines, it is rare for them to air such outspoken views from the bench.
Courtroom Cell Phone Camera Ruled Witness Intimidation Tool
11-18-07 --The Massachusetts Appeals Court upheld a lower court's witness intimidation jury verdict by ruling that pointing a cellular telephone camera at a witness in a criminal case is witness intimidation. . . . "It is irrelevant whether any photographs were taken, as the police officer was made to believe that the defendant was taking pictures of him and could disseminate his likeness, an act intended to intimidate," wrote Associate Justice R. Marc Kantrowitz. . . . The defendant was found guilty of intimidating a witness last year in a case that arose from a 2004 trial for drug-related offenses. While in a courthouse during his 2004 drug trial, the defendant acted as if he were taking cell phone photos of an undercover police officer who was scheduled to testify against him.
Justice and the 102-year sentence
Johnny Ray Lewis may have fared better in the courtroom this week if he had been tried for murder, assault or some other violent crime. Instead, the Cottonwood man convicted on 17 felony counts related to dog fighting was sentenced to 102 years in the state penitentiary. . . . That’s the sort of comparison that shows how out-of-whack our justice system has become. However, it suggests unreasonable behavior on the part of the judge in the Lewis case, and that representation is simply unfair. . . . Houston County Circuit Judge Ed Jackson was well within the state’s sentencing guidelines determining Lewis’ fate. The range of punishment for each charge is one to 10 years; Jackson set punishment at six years for each charge, making the sentence 102 years. . . . Is the sentence unreasonable? . . . If one could expect inmates to serve even a third of their sentences, perhaps. . . . But in Alabama, that’s often not the case. . . . To the immense frustration of prosecutors and judges, many convicted felons are released after serving a fraction of the term handed down by the court, and a large percentage of those inmates soon find themselves back in court on new charges.
Judge says 500 remain in prison despite being paroled
Supreme Court Justice Jim Hardesty told the Board of Prison Commissioners on Thursday that more than 500 inmates still are in prison despite the fact they have been granted parole. . . . He said the problem with many is there isn't space for them in programs which have been mandated as part of their parole conditions. . . . "There is a lack of facilities or treatment capability to meet the conditions that were imposed," he said. . . . Hardesty, who is chairing a study commission reviewing the prison overcrowding and, among other things, sentencing laws, said not all those conditions are necessary in some cases. . . . "A number of inmates have had conditions imposed on them - for example, in-patient treatment - who may not need in-patient treatment," he said.
Unequal Justice Murderers on Probation Even with strong self-defense claims, DAs may pressure defendants to take probation Prosecuting Weak Cases "I wanted to ask the judge: 'What would you do in that situation? Would you sit there and let it happen, or would you defend yourself?' "--– Jacqueline Fox 11-14-07 -- The 17-year-old is trying to escape her ex-boyfriend, a career criminal twice her age. He hits her and tries to throw her over the second-floor railing. . . . She breaks free and takes refuge in a relative's apartment. But later, when she tries to leave, he is waiting with a handgun. . . . "Bitch, I told you, every time I see you I'm gonna kick your ass," a witness recalls him saying. He hands the gun to a buddy, hits her again and grabs a 2-by-4 from a truck bed. . . . What would you do? She runs. He chases her down and hits her with the board. . . . What would you do? She stumbles toward her mother's door and screams for help. He pounds her so hard that the board breaks. . . . What would you do? She stabs him twice with a kitchen knife, as her mother tries to intervene. . . . What prosecutors did was persuade a grand jury to indict Jacqueline Fox and her mom on murder charges. They told the teen she could avoid the risks of trial if she agreed to a 30-year prison sentence. . . . Ms. Fox refused. Too poor to afford bail, she spent 4 ½ months in a Dallas County jail awaiting trial. . . . As jury selection was about to start in early 2001, she got a surprise offer: Plead guilty, get probation. . . . She was mad. But given how much muscle the state had already shown, she was also afraid. . . . She took the deal. . . . Then the prosecutor dropped the charge against her mom.
Panel may cut thousands of prison terms The early release of 19,500 inmates could result as officials try to address perceived unfairness in sentencing under federal cocaine laws.
Supreme Court: Mannequin sex doesn't equal indecent exposure
11-12-07 -- A Sioux Falls man caught in the Washington Pavilion having simulated sex with a mannequin didn't commit a crime of indecent exposure, the state Supreme Court says. . . . In a decision released Thursday, the court reversed the conviction of Michael James Plenty Horse, who was found in the late afternoon of Nov. 14, 2005, lying on top of a mannequin in the Alumni Room of the Pavilion. . . . A security guard surprised Plenty Horse, the record says. He lay with his pants partially down on a mannequin which had its band uniform partially removed. He was 19 at the time. . . . The Supreme Court unanimously reversed a misdemeanor conviction, saying the state's indecent exposure statute "criminalizes sexual gratification by displaying or showing one's genitals in public." . . . The evidence failed to show that Plenty Horse was trying to display himself in public. It was almost closing at the Pavilion, and no other patrons were around when the guard found the man. . . . The court said Plenty Horse's action, "lewd though it may be, does not fall within the purview of the indecent exposure statute."
11-7-07 -- THE GENARLOW Wilson decision by the Georgia Supreme Court must be viewed as a disappointment. No, not because Wilson, sentenced to a mandatory 10 years in prison for, at age 17, having consensual oral sex with a young lady two years his junior, was instantly set free and his sex-offender registry status erased. Rather, it is terribly disappointing because the vote by the justices was 4 to 3. . . . How can three justices with straight faces argue that what the others — and most of the public — consider to be “cruel and unusual punishment” is acceptable because the legislature, in writing the law, was willing to allow it? How can critics of the majority opinion — which deserved to be unanimous — condemn it as “judicial activism” because the judges were “legislating from the bench”? Has understanding of the role of the judiciary, particularly as regards fundamental principles, really plunged to such depths?
Nebraska Supreme Court: Inmates deserve DNA tests
11-7-07 -- Two Nebraskans imprisoned for a 1985 murder can seek DNA testing that could undermine testimony prosecutors used to get their convictions, the state Supreme Court said Friday. . . . Thomas Winslow, 41, and Joseph Edgar White, 44, were sentenced to 50 years and life in prison, respectively, for the murder of Helen Wilson, who was severely beaten and sexually assaulted inside her Beatrice apartment during a robbery. A brother-in-law found her body the next morning. Among other injuries, Wilson, 68, had fractures to her ribs and sternum and numerous bruises and scratches. . . . Prosecutors charged White with first-degree murder and at his trial, others who participated in the robbery implicated him and Winslow in the sexual assault. . . . Winslow, in a plea deal, pleaded no contest to aiding and abetting second-degree murder. . . . In 2006, both men filed motions for DNA testing under the 2000 DNA Testing Act, arguing the results could prove exculpatory, that is, they could clear a convicted defendant of the crime.
Most inmates want Houston crime lab cases reopened
11-5-07 -- All but four of 160 inmates who were questioned over the last two weeks have agreed to have their cases reopened because of shoddy blood analysis work by the Houston Police Department crime lab, attorneys said Thursday. . . . Since Oct. 22, the inmates have been gathered each day at prisons around the state so a Houston courts panel could tell them via videoconference that their convictions could have been influenced by the flawed lab work. They were told that if they wanted their cases reviewed, a lawyer would be appointed for them. . . . While some of the inmates simply said "yes" before shuffling back to their cells, for others it was more emotional. . . . "Some of them wanted to start talking about their case right away," said Bob Wicoff, a Houston defense lawyer assigned to lead the review. "One of them told me, 'I've been waiting for this day. I love you.' And you know what, he may be guilty, but if he was innocent, that may be the way you'd expect somebody to react. We shall see." . . . Last month, Harris County judges announced plans to review 180 cases identified as having "major issues" in body-fluid analysis in a final report this year from a special investigator hired by the city of Houston to investigate the lab.
October 2007
Lawyer Says He Provided Ineffective Assistance to His Client on Purpose
10-31-07 -- Knowing that he could face disciplinary action, criminal-defense attorney Christopher Hoover says he did not participate in his client's 2004 trial for misdemeanor driving while intoxicated in the hope that an appellate court would rule the client received ineffective assistance of counsel and order a new trial. And the strategy worked. . . . In a 5-4 decision on Oct. 17, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held in Cannon v. State that Hoover's failure to participate in the trial denied Darrell Cannon's constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel. . . . "Defense counsel, although physically present in the courtroom at all the requisite times, effectively boycotted the trial proceedings and entirely failed to subject the prosecution's case to meaningful adversarial testing," CCA Judge Charles Holcomb wrote for the majority. . . . Hoover, principal in Plano's Christopher N. Hoover P.C., contends that Collin County Court-at-Law No. 3 Judge John O. Barry forced him to go to trial when he was not prepared to render effective counsel. . . . "The judge handcuffed me, and I really had no other choice," Hoover says of his decision not to participate in Cannon's trial. . . . Cannon knew Hoover intended not to take an active part in the trial proceedings. "I told Mr. Cannon that it was in his best interests not to participate in the trial, because we couldn't present a defense," Hoover says. "Mr. Cannon told me to do what I felt was in his best interests."
Why Does the U.S. Sentence Adolescents To Life Without Parole? 10-29-07 -- Last year the United Nations voted on a resolution to abolish life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for children and young adolescent offenders. The vote was 185 to 1 in favor of abolition, and the United States was the lone dissenter. Until 2005, moreover, when the Supreme Court outlawed the juvenile death penalty under the Eighth Amendment in the case of Roper v. Simmons, twenty states had allowed the execution of murderers who committed their crimes before the age of 18. . . . In this column, I will explore ways of thinking about crime in the U.S. that might help explain this punitive approach to juvenile offenders. / The Law Treats Juveniles as Presumptively Impaired . . . Many critics of the juvenile death penalty, prior to Roper v. Simmons, argued that such harsh penalties for juvenile offenders are radically at odds with the way the law ordinarily treats adolescents. With a drinking age of 21 and a voting age of 18, our law otherwise appears to embody the view that minors are not capable of making choices and governing their actions in the way that adults are. In addition, most states have "parental involvement" statutes that require a minor who wishes to obtain an abortion to notify, or obtain consent from, at least one of her parents first (with exceptions for various circumstances). If we believe that adolescents are impaired enough to justify an across-the-board ban on drinking and voting and a requirement for consultation with parents before an abortion, then why would we choose to visit draconian penalties upon them when they violate the criminal law against homicide?
Ga. Justices' Ruling in Teen Sex Case Confounds Some Predictions Justice Thompson provided swing vote in releasing Genarlow Wilson, though he dissented in a similar case
10-29-07 -- Friday's ruling by the Supreme Court of Georgia that Genarlow Wilson's 10-year sentence for aggravated child molestation was unconstitutionally cruel and unusual offered a sense of deja vu to those who followed the 2004 case of Marcus D. Dixon. . . . Each case concerned a young man serving a 10-year prison term for aggravated child molestation for what each said was consensual sexual contact that occurred when he and the alleged victim were teenagers. . . . Each case grew out of rape charges. Both were acquitted but convicted of lesser crimes. . . . Each case drew national media attention, with prosecutors denying they were racist for pursuing charges against black defendants.
Supreme Court frees Genarlow Wilson 10-26-07 -- The Georgia Supreme Court on Friday ordered the release of Genarlow Wilson, the Douglas County teenager who has been serving a controversial 10-year sentence for consensual oral sex. . . . The court's 4-3 decision upholds a Monroe County judge's ruling that the sentence constituted cruel and unusual punishment under both the Georgia and U.S. constitutions. . . . disproportionate" to the teenager's crime and noted that it was out of step with current law. . . . Wilson was convicted in April 2005 of aggravated child molestation for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl at a 2003 New Year's Eve party in a hotel room. He was 17 at the time. . . . At the time the law the crime carried a mandatory 10-year sentence with no parole. However, the law was changed in 2006 to make Wilson's crime a misdemeanor with a maximum 1-year sentence. . . . "Although society has a significant interest in protecting children from premature sexual activity, we must acknowledge that Wilson's crime does not rise to the level of culpability of adults who prey on children ..." wrote Supreme Court Justice Leah Ward Sears in the majority opinion. . . . She said that "for the law to punish Wilson as it would an adult, with the extraordinarily harsh punishment of 10 years in prison without the possibility of probation or parole, appears to be grossly disporportionate to his crime."
You can access this ruling at
this link.
Prisoner Fights for Religious Expression
10-24-07 -- (AP) -- Wesley Spratt's house of worship is a cramped, windowless chapel at a maximum-security prison. A cross adorns a cinderblock wall and eight wooden benches seat the inmate congregation. . . . Spratt, a convicted killer with a life sentence and a professed calling from God, prays inside this sanctuary every Friday evening. He preaches here, too, lecturing on sin and salvation and reciting favorite Bible passages. . . . When a warden made him stop, Spratt sued. This summer he won his case and the right to resume spreading the Gospel, which he does. He preaches to anyone and everyone willing to listen. . . . "I've prayed with everybody," Spratt, imprisoned for the 1995 murder of a parking lot attendant, said in a prison interview. "I don't care who you are - child molester, bank robber, stick-up kid." . . . The legal challenge, ultimately decided by a federal appeals court, pitted Spratt against the state in a fight over religious expression.
OUR PUBLIC LIFE: It's Time for Restorative Justice By Craig Hammond 10-22-07 -- There's a growing social movement that -- if fully implemented -- will dramatically change the way we deal with crime in this country. It's called "Restorative Justice." The present system of punitive justice has resulted in higher rates of recidivism and more prisons. It's clearly not working. . . . Restorative justice requires an offender to compensate victims, express remorse, perform community service specific to the crime, and take steps toward self-education that can reduce recidivism. . . . In some places community restorative boards (made up of trained citizens) are established to hold face-to-face meetings with an offender required to attend by a judge's order. At these meetings the board and offender agree on a specific course of action to make reparations for the crime committed. After an agreed upon time period is completed, the board then sends a report to the court on the offender's compliance with the process. . . . In a world of "Restorative Jusice," focus is on the victim -- not the state. Presently, an offender pays the state in the form of fines or prison time. The victim and the community get little or nothing. For more on Restorative Justice visit www.justicefellowship.org | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
