Zachary Hickman
10-1-15
How exactly is the amount of jail time decided in America? You may wonder this question when the child molester gets less years in jail then someone with a small amount of marijuana. Of course a lot of factors come into play, such as having money or if you can get a good lawyer.
A story comes into mind when referring to this subject, a rapist physician that was looking at a 25 year sentence for pleading guilty to eight counts of sexual penetration, three counts of sexual battery, one count of child pornagraphy. He was given 1 year house arrest and would only have to register as a sex offender. This shows the extreme fault in our correctional system. Many cases such as this occur every year and it seems as if, if someone has more money then they can get away with crimes that if someone from a lower class did they would get many years in jail. Robert Richards, a rich heir, was caught raping his 3 year old daughter. The max sentence you can get for fourth-degree rape is 15 years and he received no jail time with probation.
If someone was to be caught with one tab of LSD he would be given 25 to life. Or if caught with a small amount of marijuana one can face up to 10 years in jail. This has a lot to do with the amount of money you make. Most states will provide you a lawyer when you can not afford one, but did you know that most states defense lawyer facilities are underfunded and do not have enough lawyers for the mass amount of drug cases that they receive. Each person will only receive about a half an hour of attention from their defense lawyer and they will often plead guilty as a way of reducing their sentence even if they are not guilty for the crime they supposively committed.
A woman pleaded guilty to a drug offense that she was not involved in knowing that she would not win the case, so that she could get back to her children faster. When a celebrity is caught with drugs it is seen as a scandal and they are never charged with anything that they can not pay off. This is the problem with our correctional system, it is based on money and not based on who is actually trying to better themselves and not make bad choices to end up in jail. 51% of the people in jails are in there because of “drug offense”. If it was seen as a health issue then you could eliminate funds to the cartels, get thousands of people out of jail, and not ruin someone's life because of one small mistake. When a person gets arrested for drug offenses, it can stick with them the rest of their life and it will later make it harder for them to get a job or maybe even apply for a loan for a house.
http://reverbpress.com/justice/rapist-doctor-year-house-arrest/
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/26/justice/sentencing-clemency/
http://www.courtroomadvice.co.uk/pleading-guilty-courts.html
ReplyDelete10/7/15-Comment Zachary Hickman
Hello Zachary, I thought the post was very informal. However I was often wondering what the main topic of your blog was, court's charge to much time for drugs or courts allow one to beat the system if you have money? WHile you talked informally about both topics I believe the post would have been more effective if you focused on one topic.
-Tyler Hull
ReplyDelete10/7/15-Comment Zachary Hickman
Hello Zachary, I thought the post was very informal. However I was often wondering what the main topic of your blog was, court's charge to much time for drugs or courts allow one to beat the system if you have money? WHile you talked informally about both topics I believe the post would have been more effective if you focused on one topic.
-Tyler Hull
I feel that our correctional system and judicial system are messed up. Some court cases are not "true" court cases in my opinion. Most of these celebrities get off with little to no time just because they have money to get a good lawyer. When in all reality it's not true justice, while people with no money that have a lawyer given to them will most likely face time in jail. That's why no matter who you are or who your lawyer is, you should know what you did and take responsibility for it no matter what a "plea deal" might be in the case.
ReplyDeleteThis is a interesting topic because it shows the faults in our legal system. The fact that someone can receive a much greater sentence for making personal choices that don't effect anyone else, than for a crime that can change someones life forever is astonishing. Our system does not have its priorities straight if they believe the sentencing is fair for these crimes.
ReplyDeleteI found it really interesting that you found a way to tie the injustice of the prison system, back to economics. I remember hearing somewhere that one in every eight Americans go to jail at least once in their lifetime. I also know that a huge amount of NFL players, get sent to jail. I think it has been 60 straight calendar months where, at least one NFL player went to jail. I think at some point you have to ask what is fair when it comes to justice from the courts.
ReplyDeleteI think I understand what you're saying, and that sentencing isn't very fair in the eyes of society. But you jumped around a bit too much, though I still understood, maybe add more transitions. But why do you think the drugs are more illegal than underage porn or rape? Could it be rape culture and sexism? These two things have a lot to do with it and if you would have mentioned it, I think it would be a little more clear.
ReplyDeleteGreat points though!
You're right, I have always found this very controversial, I mean how is it possible that there are more people in jail for possessing a small amount of drugs rather then the people who should actually be there, a part of the taxes goes to jail maintenance and all that, and it's sad to think that it's being used for the wrong people just because they have not the needed money to get a decent defender.
ReplyDeleteIt's stupid that the court will give rich people nothing for drugs, but for other's they get multiple years of jail and for rape they get probation or house arrest while other's have life in prison. I agree with not funding the cartels because if they are going to put people in jail because of it, why not just eliminate the cartels.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that some people are either not getting the long sentence they deserve because they committed a horrible crime or others are getting unreasonable sentences for one poor decision. Cases like these need to be looked into and understood more so that people get the sentences they deserve. One thing I thought was interesting (not good, however) was that some places don't have any available lawyers for people who desperately need them because they're working on other drug cases. Funding should go towards that so people can have a lawyer during any case no matter what it's about.
ReplyDelete"but did you know that most states defense lawyer facilities are underfunded and do not have enough lawyers for the mass amount of drug cases that they receive." I found this really interesting. I wonder if the underfunded state defense lawyers could be funded more efficiently by moving money from other areas of the government directly to the lawyers, or by passing legislation more sympathetic to all drug cases? I also liked how you included your opinion throughout the entire piece and I'm curious about your personal predictions.
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy that over 50 percent of the people in jail are in there with drug related charges, and they are probably in there the longest, when a sexual predator is in there less time. It is a messed up system that leaves people in prison longer then they should be. It also is dumb that if your famous you don't get any punishment.
ReplyDeleteI respect this writing from Zach a lot because he clearly did a lot of research on this topic. I understood that the system was unfair and frankly B.S. However, I had no idea that 51% of the inmates were in on a drug related offense. Although many of them may be in on a violent drug related offense, those who aren't make me wonder why the government spends so much money on the prison systems if many of the inmates could be just fine living in society. Topics having to do with government frustrate me because I know how difficult it would be to have influences on the governments ways.
ReplyDeleteIt's not mainly about how much money you make or how much you have or can give. It's mainly about who you are and who you know. For example: Wiz Khalifa is always walking around in public smoking weed, he never gets arrested or in any sort of trouble because of it and because of who he is and what he's known for. Celebrities aren't getting in trouble for crimes or getting less then they deserve because of their money, its because of the name they have made for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI found this very interesting because it is so true because the whole court system is based on money. I like how you found a way to tie that into economics because that is huge use of money given to the government. What I don't understand is how the court systems determine the amount of years to sentence someone with because some of these crimes are horrible that deserve life in prison but only receive one year in prison. They way the court priorities is just unbelievable. The amount of drug cases is a lot, which to me is not bad as the amount of rapes and murders, so not having many available lawyers is not fair to that person because they don't have money.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though that bails are set higher when a terrible crime is committed unfortunately not everyone has the money to pay it off s o someone who gets a sexual abuse charge might be able to pay it off if they are financially well off while the individual who has a drug possession charge may not be able to pay off their $1,000 bail. But when do we draw the line? I feel as though we should pass a law to prevent these things from happening--somehow make an equality law because a pedophile should be punished more than someone who has been found with a few bags of marijuana.
ReplyDeleteI feel that no matter how much money someone has, or who they are, they should get the same punishment as anyone else. Some sort of standardization should be implemented in order to keep the rich or famous from being able to get out of a large amount of jail time. There should be different policies that keep the famous or rich from finding some way around a punishment or to cover it up.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting post to read about. I always thought about the jail time for the certain actions that would be determined for the amount of years in jail. I feel it is true somewhat that celebrities can get away with more because possibly the amount of money but, also I feel it is unfair how someone can serve more years for having something illegal, like marijuana compared to a child molester. I think it's completely unfair how the system works. I would rather have my child around someone who had majuiana on them instead of someone who touches a child in the wrong way. Jail time is unfair in my opinion is what I am getting at.
ReplyDeleteThank you for allowing me to speak on your blog. I wanted to share something about getting a bail bondsmen. Remember that a bail bondsmen is just like any service, they need to perform to get paid. Don't pick a bail bondsmen based on a commercial, choose one that has a track record of being able to perform when the chips are down.
ReplyDeleteEliseo Weinstein @ JR's Bail Bonds