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"Man Serving 6 Years on 2 Year Sentence" Or "Pwned by Supreme Court"

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by JuanValdez, Jun 16, 2004.

  1. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    I was rather surprised to read this and figured there would bound to be someone on the BBS who wouldn't find this to be a gross miscarriage of justice and could explain to me how these people can live with themselves.

    For those who don't want to read articles, the story is basically this: a man was convicted on a 3-strikes law (in Texas) and sentenced to 16.5 years in prison only to find out later that the the 3-strikes law didn't technically apply to him and he was eligible for 2 years at most. The State agreed with that assessment but pushed to keep him in prison because his lawyer didn't make the argument at the appropriate time (at trial). It was appealed to a Federal Court (where he won) and then the Supreme Court on the basis of an "actual innocence exception" that has been used for death penalty cases before. But, instead of setting the man free, the Supreme Court left him in jail and kicked the case back downstairs because of procedural concerns even while everyone involved has admitted the man is innocent.

    http://writ.news.findlaw.com/lazarus/20040610.html

     
  2. Jeff

    Jeff Clutch Crew

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    That is beyond horrible.
     
  3. wouldabeen23

    wouldabeen23 Contributing Member

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    Womderful use of ta-payer money--be sure and keep him incarcerated long-enough that he hits the 1-Million mark, nevermind that he's innocent--cuz we're TUUUUF on CRIME...
     
  4. Oski2005

    Oski2005 Contributing Member

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    This is terrible.


    Maybe if we got famous musician aware of this guy, he/she could write a song that would maker more people aware.
     
  5. wouldabeen23

    wouldabeen23 Contributing Member

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    I'm sure Dylan isn't busy
     
  6. GladiatoRowdy

    GladiatoRowdy Contributing Member

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    You wouldn't be able to understand the song. The song would be to RAISE awareness, not to further muddy the waters...so to speak.

    :D
     
  7. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    I'm disappointed. I was hoping someone could actually give me an argument for how the Supreme Court actually did the right thing here. Honestly, I don't understand why this story isn't plastered everywhere. "Procedural default" isn't very sexy, I understand, by a man serving a 16 year term for a crime the state admits he did not commit is pretty sexy. Supreme Court purposefully ignoring justice is newsworthy. At least I thought so. But then, I only got 5 replies, so what do I know?
     
  8. GladiatoRowdy

    GladiatoRowdy Contributing Member

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    I agree that it is an absolute travesty....not just that it happened, but that it isn't on CNNs home page.
     
  9. bnb

    bnb Contributing Member

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    Pretty tough to do given the facts.

    You'd think that given all parties seem to agree that the three strikes law was applied incorrectly, this would be a straight forward matter of correcting the error. It's not like they're arguing about the introduction of additional evidence and a retrial. And the Supreme Court, of all things, should not be dodging its responsibilities to rule on matters through hiding behind technicalities.

    But alas, just like the Pledge of Allegiance thread a few days ago, the Supreme Court prefers to quibble about procedural stuff.

    Bummer for Mr. Haley.
     
  10. Bogey

    Bogey Contributing Member

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    Does this mean he has 4 yrs worth of jail time that he can commit a crime for?
     
  11. Willis25

    Willis25 Contributing Member

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    its them liberal media hippy-bastids... they love to protect the prisons

    [​IMG]
     
  12. MadMax

    MadMax Contributing Member

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    i don't know anything about this...but in that case, the quibbling was well justified. standing is a big issue, even if the newspapers around the country who report on the Court have no concept of it.
     
  13. bnb

    bnb Contributing Member

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    You're probably right. (but you're just a lacky for the legal system :))

    I also read a burb that in that case they may have inadvertingly (?) made a pretty big ruling about the rights of non-custodial parents...

    but regarding poor Mr. Haley here. Any thoughts? Seems kind of screwy, doesn't it.
     
  14. MadMax

    MadMax Contributing Member

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    seems very screwy.
     
  15. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    Lol. I was thinking a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the state for civil rights violations, but this would be a lot funnier.
     

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