Facebook post sums up American justice in one picture

[AlecBGreen]

Offered without comment.

[PDJane]

1. Sad and Sorry...........

How to make sure the poor pay, even if it's with their freedom.

[SCantiGOP]

90. As Bob Dylan said:

Steal a little and they call you a thief; steal it all and they make you King.

[BlueCaliDem]

130. My question is...why hasn't the "Liberal Media" jumped all over this?

Yeah, yeah, I know. There's really NO SUCH THING as a liberal media. Another rightwing myth well marketed by corporate propaganda outlets in America.

[Dawson Leery]

2. Indeed.

[Joe Bacon]

60. "Ju$ti¢e" REALLY means, "Ju$t U$ Ri¢h Folk$"

The rich can buy their way out of anything. As for the rest, it's getting $¢rewed as usual...

[roxiejules]

91. Two-tiered justice system

via Glenn Greenwald, who wrote about this case in 2009:

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/...


"Our political class has embraced mandatory minimum sentencing schemes as a way to eliminate mercy and sentencing flexibility for ordinary people who break the law (as opposed to Bush officials who do). The advocacy group Families Against Mandatory Minimums details just some of the grotesque injustices, including decades of imprisonment for petty drug dealing which even many judges who are forced to impose the sentences find disgraceful. Currently in the U.S., close to 7,000 people are serving sentences of 25 years to life under our merciless "three-strikes-and-out" laws -- which the Supreme Court upheld as constitutional in a 5-4 ruling -- including half for nonviolent offenses and many for petty theft.

As I've noted many times before, the United States imprisons more of its population than any other country on the planet, and most astoundingly, we account for less than 5% of the world's population yet close to 25% of the world's prisoners are located in American prisons.

Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime and punishment. Americans are locked up for crimes — from writing bad checks to using drugs — that would rarely produce prison sentences in other countries. And in particular they are kept incarcerated far longer than prisoners in other nations."


See profiles of injustices here:
http://www.famm.org/ProfilesofInjustice/FederalProfiles...

[LooseWilly]

3. Moral: Never return the money, never turn yourself in.

There is no "right" thing to do...

[ooglymoogly]

115. and take it all. Just like the fuckers at the top. nt

[NYC_SKP]

4. Facebook group for the homeless man, Roy Brown, who took $100, then turned self in.

Humanity? What humanity.



http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=6259519911...

More complete story: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/265402

[sabrina 1]

19. Thanks for the link.

Heartless judge to sentence someone who had remorse and turned themselves in to that much time. He should have been helped, if we lived in decent, compassionate society.

Maybe the severity of the sentence will be grounds for an appeal though.

[AlecBGreen]

5. the only silver lining

the poor man robbed the bank to pay for detox and b/c he was hungry. Hopefully he can get sober while in prison.

[lob1]

31. Prison: the single payer health plan.

[CreekDog]

37. Prison, a place where someone can get health care, shelter and food

it would be a hell of a lot cheaper and more humane if we just gave people these things and a good education in the first place.

[L. Coyote]

116. Prison, a place where corporations profit more from longer sentences.

Why are you thinking about people instead of corporate profits? That's un-American!

[Canuckistanian]

6. K&Red without comment. n/t

[Rosa Luxemburg]

7. The USA, a law for the rich but not for the poor and vulnerable

[Tx4obama]

8. K & R n/t

[pnorman]

9. I'm saving that for future use elsewhere.

Thanks for posting it!

[AlecBGreen]

10. I wish I didnt have to

I hope its helpful in waking some ppl up

[gtar100]

26. I'm sure the Shreveport prosecutors and judge were quite pleased with themselves.

It's all about winning big, right?


I'm sure there was nary a peep about him being a black man throughout the whole proceeding. I'm sure they were all nicely behaved and smartly dressed throughout the court proceedings.

But I'm not so polite... would they have done the same or similar to a white defendant? History is not in their favor in Louisiana. And $100 in a non-violent crime is not worth 15 years. What sort of dementia could possibly make someone think it is? The absurdity of this sentence underlines the injustice done to Mr. Brown. Yet another judge has proven that they lack what we pay them for - good judgment.

[slackmaster]

88. What is the name of the judge?

[slackmaster]

87. I respectfully suggest that you make an effort to verify that it's true before you do that

I haven't been able to confirm it. Just an endless loop of blogs linking to blogs, and links that supposedly go to an original source but don't work.

[pnorman]

98. "an endless loop of blogs linking to blogs,"

An apt description of the RW blogosphere. (My own favorite phrase is: "talking rectums furioiusly quoting each other").

Thanks for the warning; I'll try to check before putting it out. I'd hate to have that same phrase hurled at me!

[bertman]

11. HUGE REC. nt.

[earcandle]

12. Well, now that we have the evidence... how about some change?

[sakabatou]

13. What justice?

[jillan]

14. This hurts my heart.

[radhika]

15. Shame on our Nation.....Shame n/t

[Stumbler]

16. What a sad comparison...

[Firebrand Gary]

17. K&R

[Odin2005]

18. Rich and White? slap on the wrist. Poor and Black? Hard Time.

That's fucked up.

[Contrary1]

20. 40 months is "slightly less" than 6 years?

[sofa king]

39. In the same way the other guy's cell will be "slightly less" comfortable.

[MessiahRp]

21. America = Disgusting.

Seriously.

[whathehell]

50. Louisiana does not = America

Nor does one miscarriage of justice.

Seriously.

[MessiahRp]

114. If you think this is just the story of one... there are a lot of laughing CEOs right now

that would prove otherwise. When the American economy collapsed, how many or the perpetrators were arrested or even served a day of jail time? what about companies that wrote up phony mortgage papers or foreclosed on people wrongfully? Wall Street made it out scot-free. It couldn't all have been Bernie Madoff.

How about CA. Lindsay Lohan has tested positive for alcohol and broken her probation what, 15 times? Not a single day of jail. Try that with anyone else on the street.

This isn't an isolated case. There are two legal systems. One for them and one for us. And it's nationwide.

Rp

[whathehell]

121. Of course I don't think it's "the story of one"....On the other hand,

it's not story of the entire US Justice system, either, however much you want

to believe that, and for what it's worth, you're wrong about Lohan...She HAS done jail time.

The "two legal systems" definitely has an amount of truth to it, but if you think that is

limited to the USA, I have a lot of laughing multi-cultural uber-rich laughing at you.

Money is a Univer$al Language.

[MessiahRp]

123. Lohan's jail time was laughable. Anybody else commiting those offenses serves long sentences.

I don't know how one could look at her and not think she's gotten away with her charges basically.

Rp

[whathehell]

125. Clearly, she didn't do enough jail time, but

you said she didn't go at all.

The larger point still holds...Yes, "money talks",

It's just that it speaks in MANY different languages.

[Rex]

22. Great example of social inequality.

[micraphone]

23. WTF? Who were these 2 Judges?

They clearly need to be in the other court!

Court system SNAFU.

[toddwv]

24. The CEOs accomplish pled guitly and got 3 months.

Sean Ragland, 37, a former senior financial analyst at Taylor Bean who also pleaded guilty to the fraud, was sentenced today to three months in prison.

[rucky]

49. The Chairman will probably be in prison for life.

http://www.ocala.com/article/20110419/ARTICLES/11041969...

[toddwv]

93. I'm guessing that he won't be in prison for anywhere near life.

A few years from now they'll have to clear some room for more homeless people caught stealing $100.00 and he'll get probated.

[somone]

25. Recommended

[coalition_unwilling]

27. If Obama actually gave a shit about the common person, he'd issue a

Presidential pardon for Brown.

One can dream, can't one?

[tabasco]

96. Obama can't pardon a person for state crimes.

Don't let facts get in the way of a good Obama bashing, though.

[DFW]

28. The bigger they are, the softer they fall

If someone can manage to steal $100 billion, they'll probably make him CEO of Halliburton,
put him on the Sunday talk shows as an elder statesman, and move their company to Dubai,
so no one can touch them.

Oh, wait......

[Speed8098]

44. LOL Good one

[Enthusiast]

46. PLUS ONE! nt

[chill_wind]

29. And worse, how many other scumbag mortage fraudsters will probably never spend a SINGLE DAY

in prison.

And where's Allen's mugshot? I'd like to see it blown up on a few 50 ft billboards.

K & R.

[Fumesucker]

30. $3 billion is a stack of $100 bills two miles high..

Just in case you might want to get a handle on the magnitude.

Steal one $100 bill get fifteen years in prison.

Steal a stack of $100 bills two miles high and get three years in prison.

[The Wizard]

32. White justice

in black robes.

[UrbScotty]

33. 135,000,000 times as harsh.

I did the math, and the homeless man was sentenced to .15 years (54 days, 18 hours - 4,730,400 seconds) for every dollar he stole.

The CEO? .03504 seconds for every dollar he stole.

4,730,400/.03504 = 135,000,000.

[me b zola]

34. K&R

[KG]

35. steal a little and they'll call you a thief, steal alot and they'll make you a king,,,

[Citizen Worker]

36. The rule of law and equal justice under the law no longer apply, especially if your skin color is

one shade darker than pasty white. What a travesty!

[lonestarnot]

38. Fucking outrage! $75,000,000 per month v 46 cents a month for 15 years.

Richie rich justice.

[Brigid]

40. Gotta send this to Michael Moore.

If he doesn't already know about it.

[PotatoChip]

41. This is insane

Nice "justice" system we have here.

[avebury]

42. K&R

[Maru Kitteh]

43. Oh my god. That just breaks my heart all to freakin' hell and then some.

I don't have enough ways to say WRONG. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

[Enthusiast]

45. K&R

There are probably more egregious examples even than this one.

[Hubert Flottz]

47. Jail is for the "Little People"

Paul R. Allen will get out in six months. Roy Brown will probably die in prison.

[malaise]

48. True but the longer the sentences for the poor

and homeless, the more profit for the owners of the private prisons.
These fuckers are going to make 19th century England look civilized.

[Le Taz Hot]

51. You just can't any more stark than that.

Our "justice" system is a joke.

[HughBeaumont]

52. The CEO won't even serve that.

That's the saddest part of all of this.

[CanonRay]

53. Two justice systems, one for the wealthy

the other one for the rest of us. This is going to lead to trouble.

[Tallulah]

54. "cut 'em loose carmouche"

District Attorney, Paul Carmouche asked for and received an astounding fifteen year prison sentence for Roy Brown.

This is sickening

Democrat Paul Carmouche is a popular and socially conservative district attorney. He is airing radio ads cut by President-elect Barack Obama, hoping to boost the proportion of Democratic voters and relying heavily on black voters, a third of the electorate.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122851614652483893.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Carmouche

[ImNotTed]

55. K & FUCKING R!

[Javaman]

56. I don't want a revolution, I want what happened AFTER the French Revolution.

that would be sooooooo sweet.

But alas.

[Freddie Stubbs]

65. Military distributorship followed by a restoration of the old order?

[Javaman]

79. no the reign of terror. LOL

I just don't want be part of the cardinals crew this time around. LOL

[ck4829]

57. K&R

[LaydeeBug]

58. shameless kick

I want to post this on FB too.

[rucky]

59. FYI the Chairman has been convicted on 14 counts

and will probably be in prison the rest of his life. He was the big fish in this one and they nailed him good.

doesn't excuse the Brown case, though.

[Chimichurri]

61. wow. Just wow.

[demmiblue]

62. K&R

[Freddie Stubbs]

63. Those who use violence or the threat of violence are often punished more harshly

[marmar]

73. Umm, those who are poor and not white are more often punished more harshly.

nt

[Octafish]

64. Mr. Brown turned himself in. Did Mr. Allen?

That's got to be worth 12 years.

[NewJeffCT]

66. well, the billionaire can afford the best lawyers

and he still went to jail...(he probably had a team of lawyers)

the homeless guy probably had a public defender who may or may not have cared that deeply.

Give the homeless guy the best lawyers and the billionaire a hapless public defender and the situation would have been reversed.

That really shows you that money can buy justice.

[jmowreader]

119. Or who had so many cases in front of her, she didn't know Brown's name

Thinking out loud...maybe five years for the homeless guy (I know it was only $100--I also know he robbed a BANK and not a grocery store) and life without parole for the $3 billion fraud.

[sarcasmo]

67. The for profit prison system loves this economy.

Worst country on the Planet.

[think]

68. America needs a new super hero to go in and take on the real criminals who stole America

and democracy from the America people. Someone who is above the lust for the almighty dollar and yearns for truth and justice. There has always been corruption in America but now days corruption is a given rather than a possibility.....

[midnight]

69. K&R

[FailureToCommunicate]

70. It's like Jean Valjean all over again.

("Les Misérables")

Pretty sad state of "justice"

[Octafish]

81. For a piece of bread, a man must die.

It is just like Jean Valjean all over again.

And when it can be bought, it is not justice.

[marmar]

71. 15 years? ...... That judge needs to be tossed out of the courthouse onto the streets.

nt

[slackmaster]

89. What is the name of the judge?

Is this story even true?

[Duck]

127. True? That's what should be asked.

There is something very wrong with this story and it is upsetting that so many here don't seem to care if it can be verified. It's how Fox and Rush get away with their lies, their followers don't ever check the facts.

I thought that we as Liberals were concerned with truth, not just jumping on any claim that the "others" had done another horrible thing. I know that justice is not equal, we all know that, but this story is so over the top it would be national news if it were as simple as the blogs state.

What separates us from the Right is our ability to think with our heads as well as our hearts.

[SaveAmerica]

72. I'm reading "The Help" and this brings home my thoughts that things have not changed as much as we

thought.

[OwnedByFerrets]

74. We're #1, We're #1...Now, doesnt that make you feel better

[LynneSin]

75. Consider this - if Lindsay Lohan was not a cute former white child actress

She'd probably be serving hard time in jail right now.

[AlecBGreen]

78. most definitely

Two quotes sum our situation up for me.

Dr. MLK Jr, channelling the prophet Amos: "We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."

Neil Young: "Good times are comin' / I hear it everywhere I go / Good times are comin' / But they're sure comin' slow..."

We've just got to do what we can, where we can, persevere and never, never, NEVER give up. Hang in there Lynne

[Disorientedx3]

76. Class Warfare

Yes, it IS. They've just gotten soooo sophisticated.

[GeorgeGist]

77. America's a wealthy country. This is a small price to pay ...

to protect the rich from the poor.

[otohara]

80. Wall Street Thugs

hey Neal Boortz, what should we do to these thugs? Shoot em?

[Maestro]

82. Pathetic and immoral -nt

[Blue Owl]

83. There we have it

Nicely sums up the FUBAR-ness of today.

[slackmaster]

84. Color me skeptical. Has anyone seen an original source for Roy Brown's crime and sentencing?

I can't find a verifiable source to confirm that it's true. There are lots of blog posts about the story, but I haven't seen one that links to the original which according to some sources was reported by KTBS in 2009. Just an endless loop of links from blog to blog but never an original news source. No name of a reporter who could be contacted to verify the story.

For example, http://mybossier.blogspot.com/2009/01/we-saw-that-story...

Another one that has a link to KTBS that goes nowhere: http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=80575.0 ;wap2

I have tired several different searches of the KTBS Web site and turned up nothing.

http://www.ktbs.com/index.html

Here's one that looks sort of credible on the surface, but cites only a blog as a source:

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/265402

I haven't seen a source that cites the name of the judge who supposedly imposed the sentence. Why is that? Usually that's featured prominently in stories about injustice on the part of the state.

Oh well, it looks like I'll have to be the only DUer to question the veracity of the story. And if someone wishes to chide me with something like "It doesn't matter if this incident really happened or not, the system is unfair!" then so be it.

Regretfully Unrec'ed.

[roxiejules]

92. Original link here

http://www.ktbs.com/news/23350821/detail.html

Man Who Took One Bill And Handed Rest Back To Bank Teller Gets 15-Year Sentence

[slackmaster]

97. Great. I'd like to write Mr. Brown a letter. Email sent to news director...

Dear Mr. Bain,

I am interested in more information about the story at http://www.ktbs.com/news/23350821/detail.html

Can you please give me more detail about this story?

What is the name of the judge who handed down the harsh sentence? Did Mr. Brown have a public defender? If so, what is that person's name?

Has Mr. Brown appealed, and if so what was the outcome?

Where is Mr. Brown incarcerated? I'd like to write to him.

Thanks in advance,

slackmaster
San Diego

[roxiejules]

100. Call Caddo District Court

They might know...or be able to verify the story.

http://www.caddoclerk.com/criminal.htm

[girl gone mad]

128. It's completely fake.

No such thing would ever happen in America. Here, white collar criminals like Angelo Mozilo are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, while our poor and sick are treated with all of the dignity and compassion a shining first world nation can muster. In the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave™, the ethical prosper and the corrupt fail, hoc est verum et nihili nisi verum.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

[indepat]

85. Are the phrases the land of the free, the home of the brave, and equal justice under the law

mere heresy in the new Amurikan order?

[bdamomma]

86. sickening.

Mr. CEO gets a lighter sentence and Mr. Brown who has no title gets 15, justice right who were the judges? messed up.

[patrice]

94. K&R

[Avant Guardian]

95. A CEO actually did time?

Amazing

[lightningandsnow]

99. Fuck the prison-industrial complex.

I'm surprised more progressives don't see shit like this - which happens every day - and make the connection to how we have to dismantle the system entirely.

[mistertrickster]

101. Eff all, ain't it the truth. nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

102. If this gets its own Facebook page, let me know.

[Eddie Rek]

103. Derrick Jensen put it best.......

in Derrick Jensen's book "endgame".

In the very first few pages he laid down 20 premises in relation to the probem of civilization.

I feel his fourth and fifth premise are a perfect summary for the topic being discussed here.

FOURTH PREMISE: Civilization is baSED on a clearly defined and widely accepted yet often unarticulated hierarchy. Violence done by those higher on the hierarchy to those lower is neaRLY always invisible, that is, unnoticed. When it is noticed, it is fully rationalized. Violence done by those lower on the hierarchy to those higher is unthinkable, and when it does occur it is regarded with shock, horror, and the fetishization of the victims.

FIFTH PREMISE: The property of those higher on the hierarchy is more valuable than the lives of those below. It is acceptable for those above to increase the amount of property they control -- in everyday language, to make money -- by destroying or taking the lives of those below. This is called "production". If those below damage the property of those above, those above may kill or otherwise destroy the lives of those below. This is called "JUSTICE".

[raouldukelives]

104. K&R

[femrap]

105. FTC. nt

[Frisbee]

106. I wonder how much stock...

the judge or his wife has in the company that runs the prison this man will be sent to.

[KansDem]

111. Oh, Frisbee! You're *sooooo* suspicious!

MOTHER CONFRONTS JUDGE OVER 'CASH FOR JAILING KIDS' BRIBES

[treestar]

107. Two different states

Criminal law is state law. I'm sure you can find tons of similar examples.

[KansDem]

108. The irony is...

What the bank robber did probably only affected his community. What the CEO did probably affected countless communities throughout many states.

[treestar]

109. True.

White collar crime is perceived to be less violent, so that may factor in too. And parole laws are different for each state, so that factors in - in theory Mr. Brown can get out of jail first. Though I wouldn't bet on it!

[KansDem]

110. self-deleted

posted in the wrong place...

[Phlem]

112. Where's the picture?

wanted to show my wife but the picture's gone.
Is there a link to it?

-p

[axollot]

113. I expect that his sentence was due to minimum sentencing laws -

for bank robbery. Prime example why min sentencing is bullshit and should be done away with - not ramp up as they are doing through lobbying. When you have a for profit prison system it's going to look for it's profit. Non-violent criminals are so much easier to house and lets not forget that the largest manufacturing base in the US is done through private prisons.
Just another way to make something that should be illegal - legal.
15yrs is cruel and unusual.

It makes me cry for the future of this nation - no jobs for people, means more homelessness means more crimes committed by default (trespassing etc), no/low credit scores means no chance to get a job, which will put more and more people on the street - which usually leads to an increase in drug abuse and with minimum sentencing that comes with many drug "crimes" = a future prison population larger than ever before. And that equals big $$$$

Sure most of it is unconstitutional but last guy in office said that was just a piece of paper.....

Cheers
Sandy

[Liberal_in_LA]

117. kick

[WheelWalker]

118. It's the Golden Rule....

those with the gold, make the rules

[closeupready]

120. Wow. There we go. And then people wonder why some people don't respect our justice system.

nt

[marias23]

122. "In the halls of justice, the only justice is in the halls."

- Malcolm X

[stormpilot]

124. There is no justice for the poor and starving.

Which is why I was tickled at the recent story of one homeless man who was bequeathed millions by his brother.

[Stuart G]

126. May be...and could be fraudlent.a story....because..

I have looked at sources of this story...and ...all, yes all, are internet sources and repeat of internet sources.

No, local sources for this story out of Louisana, or Cado District Court, or Shreveport La. Any newspapers there that would report this one.. I would think so...

Seems to have started its internet romp in 2009, when the same picture and story were related to another
person of interest, Bernie Maddow...
Nothing original from 2007, that is correct..............NOTHING...

this kind of story, where he only took one hundred, and gave back the rest...doesn't sound real to me..
That is the way I feel..you do the research...please..prove this one real..I would be glad to eat this post..
There are too many real, perversions of justice in Illinois alone, real, verifiable, and
honest, that I can give you, to believe everything on the internet.

Find some legimate source, not from an on line source...If this was made up in 2009, then stories from later dates, are from the original frudulent story. I did see this picked up from other sources, but after 2009. Some overseas sources...but nothing
orignal from court records or local reporting..

[nankerphelge]

129. CEO was a cooperating witness...

that's why he got a lighter sentence; the main guy faces life in prison:

http://compliancesearch.com/compliancex/jail-sentence/p... /

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fraud-sentence-20...

[Honeycombe8]

131. Whoa. How unfair. But one is FEDERAL white collar crime, & other is STATE crime.

Maybe that has something to do with it (and that the state is Louisiana). It also may not have been the bank robber's first conviction.

Even if all that's true, it's so unfair.

[24601]

132. It's not just the relative amounts. When you commit ARMED

robbery, even if the weapon is only simulated, you threaten force and raise the bar considerably. The 1st story also said the 40 months was for "his role" and you don't know what that role was unless you read the rest of the story. He wasn't the mastermind and the fraud had already been going on when he took over. He's going to jail more for not stopping others than for anything he actually did.

Read the rest of the story: http://compliancesearch.com/compliancex/jail-sentence/p... /

[PatrynXX]

133. They made a movie of this

Called Les Miserables sentence to hard labor for stealing bread...

[dajoki]

134. K&R

[DissedByBush]

135. Part of our healthcare reform needs to be

a realization that drug abuse is a health problem, not a criminal problem.