Jailed drug dealer gets a chance with the Supreme Court

[babylonsister]

Jailed drug dealer gets a chance with the Supreme Court
By Michael Doyle | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008


WASHINGTON — Keith L. Burgess is a one-time South Carolina drug dealer and that rarest of jailhouse lawyers: a successful one.

A 30-year-old high school dropout who later earned his GED, Burgess persuaded the Supreme Court to hear his appeal. Working with a fellow inmate, he handcrafted a heartfelt petition that could change how some criminals are sentenced.

"He has accomplished what tens of thousands of attorneys across the country have not been able to," said Stanford Law School professor Jeffrey L. Fisher, who now represents Burgess. "I told him he should really be proud of himself."

The Supreme Court will consider arguments and render a final decision later this year.

Burgess admits that he sold 240 grams of crack cocaine in a parking lot outside a Florence, S.C., shopping mall.

He contests his 156-month sentence, however. His case turns on whether a prior one-year prison term counts as a felony that triggers a lengthy sentence after his second conviction.

Just getting this far was, for Burgess, a one-in-a-thousand shot. Literally.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/24930.html

[flashl]

1. If he had committed a larger crime, he would only get fines.

Current, Former Execs Plead Guilty To Misleading Public About Drug's Risk Of Addiction

Purdue Pharma L.P., its president, top lawyer and former chief medical officer will pay $634.5 million in fines for claiming the drug was less addictive and less subject to abuse than other pain medications, U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said in a news release.

OxyContin's Deception Costs Firm $634M

[mdmc]

2. kick

drug war

[951-Riverside]

3. I have no pity for dealers

They nothing more than CIA foot solders.

[varkam]

4. That's actually really impressive.

Even more so considering that he dropped out of high school, yet was able to sucsessfully petition the SCOTUS to hear his case. I say kudos.