Life sentence for pot conviction. When will the madness end?

I have two strikes. That fact has kept me a very careful person and a solidly law-abiding citizen for a decade. I believed them when they told me what the setup was. I still do.

Wherever the line is drawn, there are going to be sad-sacks on the wrong side of it. That's what pardons are for. I don't know if the guy deserves it or not, but he certainly should have seen it coming.

On another front, my beef is that there is no mechanism to recover my reputation. I miss it.
 
LTC8K6 said:
Not to mention the tax revenue.

Probably overstated in both cases. Not as popular as users would have us believe, and not as much potential tax revenue as sometimes claimed in legalization efforts.

Actually, I don't care what you smoke in your own home, I just wonder at the near total persecution of tobacco users...
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I think the savings from not putting a bunch of harmless people in jail will more than make up for any shortcomings in projected tax revenue.

I agree with you somewhat on the ongoing restrictions on tobacco smokers, but I wouldn't call them persecuted just yet.
 
Anyone who thinks selling, buying or using pot should be a crime is not someone I would ever consider a friend. Anyone who wants to send someone to PRISON for selling pot is someone I would consider evil.
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
Percentage of Americans who have never tried pot: 58%
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Maybe I run in the right circles, but that 58% number must include a lot of liars.

I mean, just tried it? Like Bill Clinton, W, and Obama? Surely more than half of our population has "tried" it once. :cool:

Oh, has anyone ever seen animal factory? The movie shows what a simple pot dealer can become in prison.
 
Puppycow said:
Let's see. 15 years at $40,000 per year is $600,000. You are happy to pay this to "teach him a lesson"? Plus probably some extra government assistance for whoever has to step in to raise his son.
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They can just bill him when he gets out. Shift some weed and he'll pay that off in no time.
 
NewtonTrino said:
Anyone who thinks selling, buying or using pot should be a crime is not someone I would ever consider a friend. Anyone who wants to send someone to PRISON for selling pot is someone I would consider evil.
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And what about people who want the duly enacted laws of the state to be properly enforced, regardless of whether they personally agree with every decision made by the legislative majority?
 
TragicMonkey said:
If such a huge proportion of the population is in favor of legalization, why hasn't it occurred? You'd think mainstream candidates would want to latch on to a large chunk of voters if they wanted something popular enough.
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I ask myself this every day.

"Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?" - Top question on Change.gov Q&A as voted by users of the siteThe Hill Blog: Legalizing Marijuana Tops Obama Online Poll (December 15, 2008)

Obama laughed it off. Making the statement, "Now I don't know what's going on with people on the internet.." and chuckling. As if internet users were some weird, fringe minority. It's not 1997 anymore. The internet is pretty darn mainstream I would say.

I dig my president but I am very let down that he continues failed prohibition policies. There's no good reason it should be illegal. The majority of American's support legalization and have tried it themselves. How it continues to be illegal just blows my mind.
 
Cleon said:
That's the thing - life imprisonment for dealing weed is not "proper enforcement."
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"Proper enforcement" doesn't mean enforcement that you happen to like; it means enforcement in accordance with duly enacted law. Louisiana's habitual offender law, La. Rev. Stat. Ann. 15:529.1(c)(ii) (the "Louisiana Code"), states that if an offender's fourth felony conviction "and two of the prior felonies are felonies defined ... [as] a violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law punishable by imprisonment for ten years or more...the person shall be imprisoned for the remainder of his natural life, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence." Section 40:966(B)(1) of the Louisiana Code-- which is a section of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law-- provides for a sentence of "imprisonment for not less than five nor more than fifty years" for distribution of a Schedule I narcotic, including marijuana. This was Hood's fourth felony conviction, at least two of his prior convictions were violations of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law punishable by imprisonment of ten years or more, and his sentence is within the mandated range of life without parole. So, yes, it was a proper application of duly enacted law.
 
sgtbaker said:
Yes, under 20 grams is a misdemeanor. It's the intent to sell that the law really frowns upon. I don't think dealing weed is life sentence-worthy, either, but this guy has already been convicted twice. At some point he should have realized a) he's on his last strike and if he gets caught again, he's going to prison and b) he's apparently not that good at staying under the radar.
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Three strikes laws need to amended to have a larceny amount or violent offense rider.
 
Cleon said:
Not if you believe in the bizarre notion that the punishment should fit the crime, it wasn't.
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Unless you're trying to argue that this sentence is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment-- which would be a hell of a tough argument to win-- then all you're saying is that you disagree with the habitual offender law. That's a perfectly respectable position to take, but it doesn't address the question I originally posed to NewtonTrino.
 
Cleon said:
Not if you believe in the bizarre notion that the punishment should fit the crime, it wasn't.
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But the punishment wasn't for his latest crime. It was for, if you will excuse the expression, his "body of work".






I couldn't resist.
 
Cleon said:
The only thing I'm "trying" to argue is that sticking someone in prison for life for dealing weed is unjust, unreasonable, and plain old *********** ridiculous.
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How long should their sentence be? Yes, I realize drugs should be legalized, but they're not. So what is the proper sentence in this situation?
 
LTC8K6 said:
Repeatedly selling pot from your house where your young son lives isn't too bright.
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But it's okay to invite your friends over and provide the alcohol for them all to get ********* in your back yard.

It's even better fi they bring their wives and children over because then it is just good ol' American family fun. :rolleyes:
 
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