[Vision2020] Ryan Lee Wright: Review of Retained Jurisdiction

[Janesta]

Well, I am far enough away from reading this... maybe, I can make sense
without being so upset!

WHO is responsible for this travesty?

I can guarantee you,  if this man committed the crime in Arizona, he would
have gotten serious time in the pen.

Janesta
(still upset)


On Sun, Aug 10, 2014 at 11:11 AM, Janesta <janesta at gmail.com> wrote:

> *speechless*
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 10, 2014 at 10:29 AM, Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm>
> wrote:
>
>> *Note:  while this particular instance of insanely lenient sentencing for
>> a violent felony (nearly killing a baby) happened in Latah County, it could
>> -- and almost certainly does -- happen all over the state.  According news
>> reports, Idaho's Department of Corrections started calling for increased
>> use of alternative sentencing in 2010 because there was no space in the
>> prisons and to curb a growing prison budget.  (Personally, I cannot help
>> but wonder how much of that budget growth was a direct cost of Otter’s
>> utterly disastrous “privatization” love affair with the likes of for-profit
>> Corrections Corporation of America.)*
>>
>>
>>
>> *While I'm a huge supporter of alternative sentencing for non-violent
>> crimes, and while I recognize there are exceptions to every rule, I'm not
>> convinced short-term Rider programs have any place in the sentencing of
>> violent felons.*
>>
>>
>>
>> *So, for those who think sentences like the below are a travesty of
>> justice, for those who consider themselves “law and order” types, for those
>> who believe autonomy requires we appropriately punish criminals, etc.,
>> start asking the right questions when deciding who to vote for at the state
>> level!  Don’t vote for “tough on crime types who talk the talk but don’t
>> walk the walk by supporting prison sentences for crimes of violence.*
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>>
>>
>> Wednesday afternoon, I attended a hearing reviewing the retained
>> jurisdiction of convicted felon Ryan Lee Wright prior to his release on
>> probation.
>>
>>
>>
>> Wright is a man who very nearly killed his infant son by shaking him on
>> 4/3/2013.  According to the mother, the medical records indicate violent
>> shaking was followed by a violent impact.  The baby will likely have
>> neurological deficits for the rest of his life.  As I recall, mom was at
>> work when she got a phone call that her precious baby had stopped
>> breathing.  I cannot imagine the horror of her drive from work to the
>> hospital.
>>
>>
>>
>> The baby was airlifted to Sacred Heart in critical condition.  Because
>> Wright was a typical lying criminal who didn’t immediately admit what he'd
>> done, mom's contact with her critically injured baby was understandably
>> restricted during the early investigation.  Mom spoke from her heart at the
>> sentencing.   A baby who was born perfect now lives with neurological
>> deficits as a result of his father’s horrendous abuse, and the baby will
>> likely live with neurological deficits for the rest of his life.  I believe
>> virtually everyone in the courtroom that day fought back tears hearing from
>> the mom, some of us more successfully than others.
>>
>>
>>
>> The eventual sentencing on 4/9/2014 --a year after the baby was nearly
>> killed -- was what it was:  not what it should have been and not as lenient
>> as it could have been <shaking my head>.  Much to his credit, Judge Stegner
>> had earlier rejected an initial plea agreement reached by the State and
>> Public Defender that called retained jurisdiction with probation only.  Mom
>> -- and the rest of us present -- took some consolation that the final
>> retained jurisdiction plea bargain called for six months commitment in a
>> Rider Program.  Six months confinement isn't even almost  enough for nearly
>> killing a baby with one's own hands, but as mind-boggling as it was, it
>> could have been worse.
>>
>>
>>
>> And I entered on my personal calendar to start checking the court
>> calendar in early October to make sure there were no changes for the
>> hearing scheduled for 10/20/2014 to review the retained jurisdiction.
>>
>>
>>
>> The mother let people know last Monday that everything had been moved
>> forward to last Wednesday, over two months early.  She felt she and her
>> baby had been utterly betrayed by the criminal justice system, victimized
>> for a third time.  Six months wasn't enough in the first place, but it was
>> *something*.
>>
>>
>>
>> She also mentioned that her baby boy has been terminated as a SHMC and
>> their specialists due to outstanding medical bills.  Huh -- Wright was
>> footloose, fancy free, and working at least some of the time (not to
>> mention getting drunk, trading up his rig, etc.) for a year before going to
>> Cottonwood, yet he apparently couldn't be bothered to start making payments
>> towards the medical bills incurred as a result of him nearly killing his
>> son.  I guess that new rig was far more important.  And it's not like he
>> had to worry about massive attorney fees because we-the-taxpayers are
>> footing that bill.
>>
>>
>>
>> So on Wednesday, after lots of praise for doing a "very good job" at
>> Cottonwood and “impressing” everyone in The System, Wright was returned to
>> the community.  He had "virtually no violations" during his short stay at
>> Cottonwood, and he managed to get a GED.  Restitution is ordered (I've seen
>> how that works -- or doesn't work -- here), he'll be on probation for a
>> decade (perhaps as little as five years if he behaves), and he's supposed
>> to on-his-honor make a list of bad friends he's to avoid now.  If he
>> doesn't follow the terms of his probation, he might go to jail for up to 30
>> days, although it doesn't seem like that happens very often here.
>>
>>
>>
>> Those are the positives I can muster right now.
>>
>>
>>
>> *What's the negative, besides the fact that a baby born perfect will now
>> have neurological challenges for the rest of his life?*
>>
>>
>>
>> When given the opportunity to address the court, Wright gushed by
>> thanking the judge and shared what he learned during his short stay in
>> Cottonwood, which according to Wright’s comments, apparently focused a lot
>> on financial management and not spending money on stupid things <shaking my
>> head>.*  However, he failed to mention even once his son or what he'd
>> done to his son's life and future.*
>>
>>
>>
>> *Not once.*
>>
>>
>>
>> *Nor did any of the court officials call him on that glaring omission.*
>> Rather, there were lots of verbal pats on the back for him.
>>
>>
>>
>> It was pretty clear to me that Wright learned well the lessons taught at
>> Cottonwood about how to make a good impression when going to court.  It was
>> pretty much the same spiel I've heard from convicts before, although Wright
>> emphasized the personal money management  lessons to attain his personal
>> goals more than I recall hearing before.
>>
>>
>>
>> And, in fairness, I don't know what all the Rider Program teaches.
>> Perhaps the program just completely ignores the *human victims/survivors
>> and their loved ones* of the crimes that land offenders at Cottonwood.
>> If that’s the case, that needs to be fixed.
>>
>>
>>
>> Or, maybe that part of the program – if it exists -- simply didn't make
>> an impression on Wright.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Saundra Lund
>>
>> Moscow, ID
>>
>>
>>
>> I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to
>> protection by man from cruelty of man.
>>
>> ~ Mahatma Ghandi
>>
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