[Vision2020] It's Time for an Honest Conversation About Marijuana . . .

Tue Aug 13 14:49:50 PDT 2013

<my
 guess is they will provide cold comfort when she can’t get a job, or 
housing, or loans to further her education, etc. because she’s now a 
convicted felon.>
IMO, neither she nor anyone else should use the 
old 'felony on the record' as an excuse for not being able to be a 
productive member of society.  It's just not true.  Several members of 
my family have felony convictions and have had no issue finding jobs, 
housing, and even loans.  The only aberration is that I have one nephew
 who is presently on 2 years unsupervised probation for petty theft (not a felony).  He has 
trouble keeping jobs because he does things like steal gas from the 
company he's working at or in some cases he flat out doesn't show up to 
work.  He's the only person I've ever heard of who's been fired from 
McDonald's (no joke).

I'm not even sure this lady should be working in 
the first place unless she really, really wants to.  She has 4 kids to raise so IMO she should be raising them.  
This is why society has things like welfare to help out moms saddled 
with kids from deadbeat dads.

I'm not even sure that we're in that much disagreement on sentencing being too harsh on this one.  Since she apparently plead guilty to whatever she was being charged with (drug dealing I'm guessing, but I can't actually find what she was specifically charged with), then she seems to have been socked with whatever bad luck sentencing went her way be it by mandatory sentencing terms or by some hangin' judge.  She was also sentenced to a couple of years for possession and that ran concurrently.  I think the $31 piece of the story is a distraction.  The law, if I could find any fricken details on this case, probably does not mention dollar amount whatsoever and just deals with the sheer volume and/or weight of the illegal substance.  I'm guessing the same charge / sentencing would apply whether her price tag on the bag was $3 or $3000.  Most everyone just latches onto to $31 figure which has no (or very minor) relevance to the particular law being broken and subsequent sentence handed down for breaking that law.

In terms of the death penalty, I used to be a staunch supporter of it but after seeing so many cases where it has been misapplied due to over zealous prosecutors, I've done a 180 on it an now oppose it.  Unlike Doug Wilson and his flock, I reserve the right to change my opinion in light of new information.

-Scott

From: v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm
To: scooterd408 at hotmail.com; sunilramalingam at hotmail.com; vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] It's Time for an Honest Conversation About Marijuana . . .
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 13:57:54 -0700

Scott, I get the point you are trying to make in the first paragraph, but in spite of the programs offered that she participated in while incarcerated, my guess is they will provide cold comfort when she can’t get a job, or housing, or loans to further her education, etc. because she’s now a convicted felon. For selling $30 of weed to a police informant.  With no previous criminal convictions. I understand that the issues aren’t simple.  In spite of being a bleeding heart liberal, I tend to be a pretty staunch law & order kind of gal (although I’m vehemently opposed to the death penalty), particularly with respect to violent & financial crimes. However, the lofty notion of justice is near & dear to my heart, and I don’t think justice should depend on where in the US one lives.  A key component to justice, it seems to me, is proportionality. Spottedcrow’s sentence – and all similar sentences with similar circumstances– flunk.  They contain not an iota of justice because there’s absolutely no proportionality.  IMHO.   From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Scott Dredge
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2013 11:46 AM
To: Sunil; viz
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] It's Time for an Honest Conversation About Marijuana . . . In this particular case, it's a a mixed bag regarding marijuana laws making sense / working.  She sold a bag of marijuana which I'm guessing would be a much worse offense than merely being in possession of it.  12 years for all of her combined crimes is too much in my amateur opinion.  The 2 years she served is probably too much.  On the upside, while incarcerated she completed her GED and took parenting classes and participated in a few other programs that were offered.  Hopefully she's come out of this experience as more functional person.

I think if the marijuana laws are not making sense and not working, it might be because marijuana is lumped into to the same category as say cocaine.  I'm not sure of the laws, but if this is the case, then marijuana should be moved into some lesser category.  Even so, dealing it should carry a heavier penalty than possessing it.

From: sunilramalingam at hotmail.com
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 05:35:13 -0700
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] It's Time for an Honest Conversation About Marijuana . . .Wayne,

Do you think our marijuana laws make sense or are working?

SunilFrom: bear at moscow.com
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 18:37:58 -0700
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] It's Time for an Honest Conversation About Marijuana . . .

Honest?  I think not! Served 2 years in prison, not 12.           On Aug 12, 2013, at 6:05 PM, Tom Hansen wrote: <1146440_502299883171842_938877420_n.jpg> Cannabis Nationhttp://www.cannabisnationradio.com/  Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . . "Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)http://www.MoscowCares.com  Tom HansenMoscow, Idaho "There's room at the top they are telling you still But first you must learn how to smile as you kill 
If you want to be like the folks on the hill." - John Lennon  =======================================================
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