StanB wrote:
"Adrian MacNair" wrote in message
. ..
"freddy" wrote in message
ups.com...
All true. This is a country which locks up petty shoplifters for
life,
while corporate theft of billions and war crimes go virtually
unpunished.

Don't forget the incarceration of hippies like Tommy Chong for
smoking
some
harmless ganja.

I'm surprised there was room in the jails for him. What with all
those petty
shoplifters serving their life terms.

Last year "our" Supreme Court upheld life sentences for two men who
shoplifted a video tape and a golf club. Ken Lay and Lyndie England are
free. Enough said? Here is the article-


Supreme Court upholds long sentences under 3-strikes-you're-out law
From Bill Mears
CNN Washington Bureau
Wednesday, March 5, 2003 Posted: 5:17 PM EST (2217 GMT)




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RESOURCES
=B7 Opinion: Ewing v. California
=B7 Opinion: Lockyer v. Andrade (FindLaw, PDF)

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A sharply divided Supreme Court upheld long prison
sentences given to two men whose theft of golf clubs and videotapes
placed them under California's controversial "three strikes you're out"
law.

At issue was whether state laws mandating harsh sentences for
three-time felons amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

Justices ruled on two separate cases involving California's then-novel
1994 law, which provides for mandatory prison terms of 25 years to life
for career criminals convicted for the third time of a felony. Because
of a legal twist, the law can result in offenders with prior criminal
records being put behind bars for life for non-felony offenses such as
petty theft and shoplifting.

Gary Ewing is serving 25 years to life for stealing golf clubs from a
Los Angeles country club. In his case, the prosecutor had the option of
charging Ewing with a misdemeanor but chose to try the case as a
felony. The state supreme court had rejected Ewing's appeal of his
sentence. His lawyer said Ewing has AIDS and expects to die soon.

In a 5-4 decision, justices said states should have the discretion to
keep repeat offenders behind bars. "When the California legislature
enacted the three-strikes law, it made a judgment that protecting the
public safety requires incapacitating criminals who have already been
convicted of at least one serious or violent crime," said Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor, writing for the majority.

O'Connor admitted Ewing's "sentence is long, but so is his criminal
history."

In his dissent, Justice Stephen Breyer noted, "Ewing's sentence is, at
a minimum, two to three times the

length of sentences that other jurisdictions would impose in similar
circumstances." In an indication of the ideological divide between the
justices, Breyer read his dissent from the bench, a rare move usually
reserved for only the most contentious cases.

In the other case, Leandro Andrade was given a 50-year sentence in 1995
for stealing videotapes in two southern California stores. While in
most cases the crime would have been a misdemeanor, Andrade's prior
felony burglary convictions turned it into a felony, his third.

The justices reversed a federal appeals court which found the sentence
"grossly disproportionate," violating the Eighth Amendment's ban
against cruel and unusual punishment.

The "three-strikes" law was passed in 1994, after a voter referendum
got 71 percent support. The ballot measure was prompted by the 1993
abduction-murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas in Petaluma, California.
The killer, Richard Allen Davis, was a twice-convicted kidnapper who
had been on parole after serving only half of a 16-year prison term for
the second kidnapping. Davis remains on California's death row.

The federal government and 26 states have a three strikes-type law,
imposing as much as a life prison term for criminals convicted of a
third felony.

California's law requires prisoners to serve their full sentences
before applying for parole. The number of current three-strike
prisoners in that state has grown to about 7,100.

Supporters of the measure hoped the tough sentencing law would send a
message to career criminals and give so-called "lenient" judges less
discretion in sentencing.

Opponents say violent crime has not been reduced because of the law,
and crimes normally prosecuted as misdemeanors should be not be allowed
to put a person away for life in prison. They claim about 350 prisoners
are currently in the same situation as Andrade and Ewing.

The Supreme Court in the 1980s split on the issue of life sentences for
minor, non-violent felonies, in cases in Texas and South Dakota. And in
1991, justices upheld a life sentence for a Michigan man with no prior
criminal record accused of possessing 1.5 pounds of cocaine.

The cases are Ewing v. California, 01-6978 and Lockyer v. Andrade,
01-1127

"freddy" wrote:

Last year "our" Supreme Court upheld life sentences for two men who
shoplifted a video tape and a golf club. Ken Lay and Lyndie England are
free. Enough said? Here is the article-

Compare this also to the fact that noone was held responsible for the
massacre at Kent State University in 1970.

People in this room have declared that justice should be upheld regarding
Bobby Fischer. Justice, concerning 20 games of chess 13 years ago.

Fischer did neither kill nor torture anyone. Those guys from the National
Guard actually killed four young people and Lyndie England behaved in an
appropriate manner against POW's.

I do not understand the American concept of justice. Orwell, maybe I do.

HansJ

Nothing...we can still kick your ass, our women are the hottest, our jobs
pay the best, and we have the best food, sports, and entertainment of all
the globe.

Enjoy your decline, old Europe.

TMB


"Hans Jørgen Lassen" wrote in message
k...
What has gone wrong with that country of yours that fostered greats like
Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, Marilyn Monroe, The Marx
Brothers, Elvis Presley, Henry Miller, Clarence Darrow, Billy the Kid,
and,
well, Bobby Fischer?
HansJ

Sorry, there was a fatal blunder in my last post: England did not act
appropriately but the opposite, inappropriately.
HansJ

No-one's asking you to understand it. Why are you so obsessed with America?
Could it be...that living in Denmark is actually kinda boring? Could it
be...you secretly wish you lived here, in the party country of the universe?

Too bad you don't....back to your Carlsberg, boy. And reflect on the fact
that once again, Denmark will spend this year accomplishing nothing that
will make anyone's history books. No wonder you guys are all drunks.


"Hans Jørgen Lassen" wrote in message
k...
"freddy" wrote:

Last year "our" Supreme Court upheld life sentences for two men who
shoplifted a video tape and a golf club. Ken Lay and Lyndie England are
free. Enough said? Here is the article-

Compare this also to the fact that noone was held responsible for the
massacre at Kent State University in 1970.

People in this room have declared that justice should be upheld regarding
Bobby Fischer. Justice, concerning 20 games of chess 13 years ago.

Fischer did neither kill nor torture anyone. Those guys from the National
Guard actually killed four young people and Lyndie England behaved in an
appropriate manner against POW's.

I do not understand the American concept of justice. Orwell, maybe I do.

HansJ

"The Masked Bishop" wrote:

Nothing...we can still kick your ass, our women are the hottest, our jobs
pay the best, and we have the best food, sports, and entertainment of all
the globe.

Enjoy your decline, old Europe.

The sun is still shining here, the kids are playing and having fun, so we
are doing quite fine. Hope you are too.
HansJ

"The Masked Bishop" wrote:

Too bad you don't....back to your Carlsberg, boy. And reflect on the fact
that once again, Denmark will spend this year accomplishing nothing that
will make anyone's history books.

Funny that you should say this about history books. The only philosopher of
great stature (though not physically) from Denmark said that the most
ridiculous thing he could think of, would be to have historical importance;
the one thing he did not care about was world history. Well, that was not
his exact words, but close enough.

Did you ever read any of his works?

HansJ

Kirkegaard? Chronic masturbator.


"Hans Jørgen Lassen" wrote in message
k...
"The Masked Bishop" wrote:

Too bad you don't....back to your Carlsberg, boy. And reflect on the
fact
that once again, Denmark will spend this year accomplishing nothing that
will make anyone's history books.

Funny that you should say this about history books. The only philosopher
of
great stature (though not physically) from Denmark said that the most
ridiculous thing he could think of, would be to have historical
importance;
the one thing he did not care about was world history. Well, that was not
his exact words, but close enough.

Did you ever read any of his works?

HansJ

On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 16:45:16 +0100, "Hans Jørgen Lassen"
wrote:

Funny that you should say this about history books. The only philosopher of
great stature (though not physically) from Denmark said that the most
ridiculous thing he could think of, would be to have historical importance;
the one thing he did not care about was world history. Well, that was not
his exact words, but close enough.

Did you ever read any of his works?

HansJ

Was Henry "History is Bunk" Ford a Dane??

"The Masked Bishop" wrote:

Kirkegaard? Chronic masturbator.

Occasionally probably, but that is no crime in Denmark. In the US, maybe,
but not here.

He did write a few things that could make you think about this and that.

HansJ