Quadriplegic man dies while jailed for pot possession

Because the guy was already in prison. He couldn't move. All the judge had to do was take the battery out of his wheelchair. What's the purpose of putting him behind bars.

 

Andymoon,

Didn't you just argue in a recent thread that the laws that apply to one should apply to all. This was in reference to your view of police officers being "exempt" from various laws. How can you reconcile that view with the statements you are making here that a person who commited a crime (much like others) should not face the same punishment?

 

By punishment I obviously meant the jail time. The blame for his death should be placed entirely on the prison system that falsely believed that it could handle such an inmate.

 

He's made it clear that his opposition is to this specific law itself many times.

Also, there was no law demanding that the judge hand out this particular sentence. The article states both the prosecution and defense agreed the proper "punishment" was probation, not jail time.

 

And as I have said over and over again, drug laws should not apply to ANYONE, much less this poor man. This is simply another case of "jail the evil drug user, consequences be damned" and "do the crime, do the time" mentalities.

Our justice system is so geared to punishing drug "offenders" that it doesn't even take into account circumstances like this one. Politicians are so gung-ho on this that they keep passing mandatory minimum laws that take even MORE discretion from the judges.

Prohibition is the problem.

 

In this case wouldn't it have been better, according to your view, if the discretion was taken from the judge. Also, in this case, inadequate medical facilities in the prison was the problem.

 

No, judges are supposed to be there to assure that the punishment fits the crime and that all of the various circumstances have been taken into acount. The politicians apparently feel that drug users cannot have any leeway whatsoever and as such, passed mandatory minimums that cannot be adjusted at all. Of course, this has assured that the people with money (the truly BIG drug dealers) get plea agreements to avoid the minimums and/or get off altogether while low level mules and runners get put in jail for decades.

I trust a judge to come up with a just punishment FAR more than I trust a one-size-fits-all sentence imposed by a politician who is only interested in being reelected (read support the money men who contribute).

In this case, the judge did not impose a just sentence, but I am also sure that if she knew that the man would die after 5 days in jail, she would not have put him behind bars. You are correct that the medical facilities are at fault in this case specifically, but prohibition ensures that such injustices (along with all the others) will only continue to happen. This man did not deserve to be in jail in the first place and certainly did not deserve to die over mar1juana. mar1juana has never been documented to have killed even a single person, but prohibition kills people over mar1juana on a regular basis.

The real point is that this situation is indicative of the vitriol that officials are supposed to have for drug users. No matter the circumstance, drug users are painted as evil, selfish people interested in their own self-gratification. This is obviously not true given that the VAST majority of drug users are responsible, taxpaying members of society who simply prefer intoxicants other than alcohol. None of them deserve jail time for that choice.

 

You summed it up very well, andy.




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