|
BlackWidow


Registered: 09/25/11
Posts: 2,395
|
Sentence in DMT case reveals judicial injustice
#18569556 - 07/17/13 12:23 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
On Friday, the D.C. District Court handed down its decision in the case against John Perrone and former Georgetown student Charles Smith, who were accused of manufacturing the hallucinogenic dimethyltryptamine in Smith’s Harbin dorm room. The penalty for producing DMT, a Schedule I controlled substance, can be up to $1 million in fines and 20 years in federal prison. Thankfully, the defendants each received three years probation in a plea-bargain agreement with prosecutors—but that is a far cry from the sentence an average defendant would receive.
Smith and Perrone’s sentences were appropriate if you consider their actions youthful mistakes. However, their relatively light punishment, when compared with the sentences that most defendants receive reveals the great level of judicial disparity in a country that claims “equal justice under law.” Had the defendants belonged to a different socioeconomic class, they probably would have received time in prison, not a mere three years probation.
In this case, the defendants retained two well-known private attorneys. Smith’s attorney, David Schertler, was just involved in the high-profile acquittal of the defendants in the Robert Wone murder case. Perrone’s attorney, G. Allen Dale (LAW ’77), has a lengthy portfolio of defense work ranging from corporate fraud to espionage. Few defendants can afford this caliber of representation. A 2005 study by a Colorado state judge and two Emory professors showed that defendants that resort to public defenders, on average, spend five more years in prison than those with private attorneys.
The root of the problem is that injustice pervades the sentencing system. Sentences should be based on the severity of the crime, not the skill and price tag of the attorney. Some drug crimes unnecessarily carry a mandatory minimum sentence. Five grams of crack receives a five-year mandatory federal prison sentence, while an offender must sell 500 grams of powder cocaine, for example, to receive the same sentence. These mandatory minimums may be politically popular, but they corrupt the justice system, leading to inordinately severe sentences in many cases. Such minimums have been shown to target African Americans, who comprise only 12.2 percent of the population and 13 percent of drug users yet make up 38 percent of those arrested for drug offenses and 59 percent of those convicted. In 1986, before this mandatory minimum was enacted, the average federal drug sentence for African Americans was 11 percent higher than for whites. Four years later, the gap was 49 percent—a needless increase.
It’s troubling that race and social class are such large factors in our purportedly fair justice system. Although it does not address the basic problems of sentencing, encouragingly, Attorney General Eric Holder promised one year ago to strengthen the public defender system. He must keep this promise, and in addition, mandatory minimum sentencing must be scrapped. Smith and Perrone both had good chances at a fair verdict— a chance that every defendant deserves.
http://georgetownvoice.com/2011/02/17/sentence-in-dmt-case-reveals-judicial-injustice/
|
Zerovirus



Registered: 10/09/12
Posts: 584
Last seen: 9 years, 6 months
|
Re: Sentence in DMT case reveals judicial injustice [Re: BlackWidow]
#18570176 - 07/17/13 07:02 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Ridiculous!
|
Vitalux
Stranger from the next universe



Registered: 02/15/11
Posts: 2,695
Loc: Canada
|
Re: Sentence in DMT case reveals judicial injustice [Re: BlackWidow]
#18570573 - 07/17/13 09:05 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
It is amazing how the legal system has outlawed a human being from exploring his spirituality by DMT.
I wish that you American's were not so weak in the knees, spineless, and pathetically afraid to stand up and defend your Human RIghts in America.
A Good American would take a stand and say " Enough is Enough" and do the right thing and ....well.....you can probably figure the rest out ...or must I have to paint you a very ugly picture
|
Lord_McLovin
mad scientist on shrooms


Registered: 04/09/11
Posts: 3,071
Loc: infinite dimensional void
Last seen: 6 years, 4 months
|
Re: Sentence in DMT case reveals judicial injustice [Re: Vitalux]
#18570582 - 07/17/13 09:08 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Don't waste your words on them, sloantbone, they won't listen as they are more occupied with being proud of their country than seeing how it goes to shit.
3 years on probation for a "youthful mistake" - you guys are nuts, seriously.
|
Zerovirus



Registered: 10/09/12
Posts: 584
Last seen: 9 years, 6 months
|
Re: Sentence in DMT case reveals judicial injustice [Re: Lord_McLovin]
#18570619 - 07/17/13 09:18 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Lord_McLovin said: Don't waste your words on them, sloantbone, they won't listen as they are more occupied with being proud of their country than seeing how it goes to shit.
3 years on probation for a "youthful mistake" - you guys are nuts, seriously.
Where do you live?
|
Can-i-bus
Melting


Registered: 01/22/13
Posts: 1,162
Loc: WA
Last seen: 14 hours, 24 minutes
|
Re: Sentence in DMT case reveals judicial injustice [Re: Vitalux]
#18570649 - 07/17/13 09:32 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Lord_McLovin said: Don't waste your words on them, sloantbone, they won't listen as they are more occupied with being proud of their country than seeing how it goes to shit.
3 years on probation for a "youthful mistake" - you guys are nuts, seriously.
Generalizing an entire country based on the actions of our judicial system?
Good job! 

Quote:
sloantbone said: It is amazing how the legal system has outlawed a human being from exploring his spirituality by DMT.
I wish that you American's were not so weak in the knees, spineless, and pathetically afraid to stand up and defend your Human RIghts in America.
A Good American would take a stand and say " Enough is Enough" and do the right thing and ....well.....you can probably figure the rest out ...or must I have to paint you a very ugly picture 
So DMT is completely legal in Canada? Get off your high horse
You guys gave up Marc Emery to the US government. How is that not spineless? We can play this game all day long. Most 1st world countries are fucked up.
Edited by Can-i-bus (07/17/13 09:35 AM)
|
Maharishi_2_U
Opt Out Super Fag


Registered: 10/21/09
Posts: 6,316
Loc: The Streets
Last seen: 9 years, 2 months
|
Re: Sentence in DMT case reveals judicial injustice [Re: Can-i-bus]
#18570769 - 07/17/13 10:07 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Growing up in Minnesota and spending much time in Canada leads me to believe Canadians make fun of their number one trade partner and ally out of ignorance or simply to act cool because we are a superior nation. Happens all the time, inferior individuals poke fun at superior beings in an attempt to boost thier self image. Have a great day.... Bless DMT
|
OddiT


Registered: 11/25/12
Posts: 172
Last seen: 10 years, 9 months
|
Re: Sentence in DMT case reveals judicial injustice [Re: Vitalux]
#18570840 - 07/17/13 10:28 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
sloantbone said: It is amazing how the legal system has outlawed a human being from exploring his spirituality by DMT.
I wish that you American's were not so weak in the knees, spineless, and pathetically afraid to stand up and defend your Human RIghts in America.
A Good American would take a stand and say " Enough is Enough" and do the right thing and ....well.....you can probably figure the rest out ...or must I have to paint you a very ugly picture 
have you ever had a SWAT team with automatic weapons kick your door down and throw you in jail for plants and DMT? i have. you can't fight back. if you do, you go further into the system. if you want to fight the system in the way you're insinuating, you will end up in prison or be murdered.
|
wortiesbo



Registered: 03/18/06
Posts: 866
Loc: new vegas
Last seen: 6 years, 3 months
|
Re: Sentence in DMT case reveals judicial injustice [Re: Vitalux]
#18570868 - 07/17/13 10:36 AM (10 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
sloantbone said: It is amazing how the legal system has outlawed a human being from exploring his spirituality by DMT.
I wish that you American's were not so weak in the knees, spineless, and pathetically afraid to stand up and defend your Human RIghts in America.
A Good American would take a stand and say " Enough is Enough" and do the right thing and ....well.....you can probably figure the rest out ...or must I have to paint you a very ugly picture 
you canoodians have no space to talk.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Indian_residential_school_system
--------------------
|
|