I've been to Brazil, and yes it is. I was told by the natives not to smoke any weed because the cops would throw me in jail for years if I got caught.
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American man serving life for Marijuana since 1994
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I've been to Brazil, and yes it is. I was told by the natives not to smoke any weed because the cops would throw me in jail for years if I got caught.
Frankfurter
Member
3 strikes... wtf... who on earth thought that's a good idea :/
Dude, he got life in prison for something that is less harmful than alcohol and now legal in some states.
astroturfing
Member
makes sense one's life would be ruined over those offenses. an awful criminal obviously. my bloodlust is ALMOST satisfied, i only wish i could poke him with a spear a couple times.
thesuperfunk
Member
I hope this thing blows up and they grant him clemency.
You don't have to have sympathy for the guy to find the law extremely draconian.
The 3 strikes system is great. I mean; the first time you mess up; it's a mistake maybe. The second time.. Well get your shit together, whats wrong with you? Third time? No excuses.
He was also busted with quite a sustancial amount; its not like he was caught with a lonely joint. This was a major offense here...
He was also busted with quite a sustancial amount; its not like he was caught with a lonely joint. This was a major offense here...
We have a shitty education system but are rich and powerful and the most influential western country so everyone gets to hear about our shittiness and to make matters worse the dumb population likes to brag about how shitty we are.
The three strikes system looks great in theory, but let's say you get busted two times for a very minor offense. What do you think you'll do when you see cop coming and you have a bit of weed on you? I think the rational response at that point would be doing whatever you can to escape. If you kill five cops to escape or not, the result will be life in prison.
Jerry spent some time in Michigan
A twenty year vacation, after all he had a dime
A dime is worth a lot more in Detroit
A dime in California, a twenty dollar fine
(Edit: and before someone decides to go all "this wasn't a dime it was a significant amout blah blah blan". Yeah you've kinda missed it.).
It really is a complete injustice. Life in prison is insanity. I understand the need for increasing penalties for repeat offenders but life without parole for marijuana? I can't even fathom that.
A twenty year vacation, after all he had a dime
A dime is worth a lot more in Detroit
A dime in California, a twenty dollar fine
(Edit: and before someone decides to go all "this wasn't a dime it was a significant amout blah blah blan". Yeah you've kinda missed it.).
It really is a complete injustice. Life in prison is insanity. I understand the need for increasing penalties for repeat offenders but life without parole for marijuana? I can't even fathom that.
Oh i know, it's harmless.Aβydoς;122728114 said:
Whats not harmless is what the money made from the sale of weed is used for. Weapons, goons, much more harder drugs, protection money, etc etc... Weed is the bread and butter of those guys.
I highly doubt that Ray and his friend were going to smoke all 5 pounds of it when they bough this from the double agent.
Ray knew it was going to be his third offense, he also knew that at the time, weed was illegal pretty much everywhere. It's all his own damn fault. He already got in trouble twice; he chose to ignore those wakeup calls. he had even managed to avoid jail time. But nope. He chose to keep hanging out with shady friends, doing shady things. He had every chances to redeem himself and live a legit life.
Bony Manifesto
Member
But was it a major enough offence to justify life without parole? To get that sort of sentence for a non-violent, victimless crime seems insane to me.
NekoFever
Member
By what criteria is Brazil not a third world country? Developing? Check. Not in NATO or the (former) Soviet bloc? Check. Former European colony? Check.
Russia is more debatable since the first/second/third world labels were created to define the relationship between the West and the Soviet bloc. The USSR no longer exists but Russia is still against NATO.
Of course it is incredibly harsh, but the whole concept of it is to scare people out of the criminal life. The dude already had two chances.. His bud 'only' got 10 years because it was his first time. Ray decided to gamble and lost.
Lol ok.
Examples A, B and C of why the american justice system is fucked up.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
This is the legacy of Reagan and the war on drugs. It's essentially a war on the poor, because of the way the laws are enforced. Private prisons and prison labor aren't driving that policy.
It's hard to argue that marijuana use is causing more social and economic harm than the drug laws surrounding it. Hard, if not impossible.
you mean Nixon's war on drugs legacy!
Occasionally campaigns like this do work. However, I think his freedom will come as a result of our rapidly changing laws regarding marijuana. Soon this sort of thing will be intolerable in our country.
Bony Manifesto
Member
I'm not against hasher sentences for repeat offenders, but to not get any jail time for the first two strikes, and go straight to life without parole for the third doesn't seem the most effective way of preventing recidivism. Surely there must be a more appropriate penalty somewhere between a slap on the wrist and having this guy spend the rest of his life behind bars.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
We can trace it back to Johnson, but it's Reagan's mandatory sentencing laws that really put us on the path we're on today. It took almost 20 years to reverse racially discriminatory crack cocaine sentencing laws.
Maybe for marijuana sentences, but the underlying issue is the "three strikes" system. It's about as far you can get from fair justice in a western judiciary system.
Well yeah, but one step at a time. Drug laws like this being changed would already reduce/eliminate a large part of the most intolerable types of injustice within the three strikes system; then after that we can focus on the three strikes itself.
In this country, progress is sloooow
Summer Haze
Banned
20 years of his life taken away for something that is now legal in some states.
What a world we live in.
What a world we live in.
bodyboarder
Member
Seems crazy.
Bulbo Urethral Baggins
Banned
Really? How hard is it to understand?
1st strike. "No problem. I'm still in this"
2nd strike. "Shit. Better focus"
3rd strike. You're fucking out.
How many strikes do you think a guy who repeatedly commits felonies should have? 50?
The problem isn't in the 3 strikes rule. It's with the actual laws against selling bricks of weed to kids on school playgrounds.
teruterubozu
Member
It happens everywhere. Our media exposes stuff more than other countries.
Well yeah, but one step at a time. Drug laws like this being changed would already reduce/eliminate a large part of the most intolerable types of injustice within the three strikes system; then after that we can focus on the three strikes itself.
In this country, progress is sloooow
Nothing will change until the people change. Neogaf leans pretty heavily on the left (for america), but even here the bullshit comes to the fore in threads like this. The voters need to stop thinking of criminals as sub-human scum and sentences as vengeance.
GoldenEye 007
Member
I agree this sentence is crazy and needs to be thrown out.
But I have to ask why the guy didn't get the hint the first two times?
But I have to ask why the guy didn't get the hint the first two times?
The only reason the money goes to criminals is because it's criminal in the first place. If the production, sale and possession of tomatoes were to be criminalized, the scenario would be the exact same (probably worse since the market would be bigger).
Your tax dollars also go to weapons, goons, wars, etc., etc. perhaps everything that's taxable should be criminalized then?
Coriolanus
Banned
Max conviction for trafficking in Brazil has been 15 years since...oh, 1976, and to get significantly above the minimum conviction, you'd really have to go out of your way. Convictions for max time are absurdly rare and often reduced, even if you're brown.
Also while it hasn't completely decriminalized drug use in 2006, you won't go to jail over it ever since.
Unless the police sez you're trafficking, which happens a lot if you're brown.
So, yeah, you shouldn't expect it from Brazil.
Fwiw, there is no life in prison here either. Capped at 30y. Death penalty has also not been used in... oh, 145 years.
There are many disappointingly backwards things with Brazil. It's legislation is usually not one of those things.
There is stupidity all around here. Missouri for sending him to prison for it. He's an idiot for residing in Missouri and selling weed after his second strike. Everyone in Missouri knows they don't fuck around.
As for him getting out? Its Missouri. They will only stand their ground knowing there is an Internet campaign to free him. Most likely he will catch heat in prison now.
As for him getting out? Its Missouri. They will only stand their ground knowing there is an Internet campaign to free him. Most likely he will catch heat in prison now.
Uh, let's not go overboard, I can probably think of 40 more important issues than legalizing f'ing weed. Fixing the racist and archaic U.S. legal system, for one, including the dumb ass drug laws.
POWERSPHERE
Member
Wow, you're sheltered as fuck.
http://www.vera.org/sites/default/f...s/Price_of_Prisons_updated_version_072512.pdf
If we use this source of a average cost of an inmate, the taxpayer for this man has wasted. 447000 dollars, of course this doesnt account for inflation but you just can see the crazy. I can think of a million better things to due with that tax money than locking this dude up and ruining a good portion of his life.
If we use this source of a average cost of an inmate, the taxpayer for this man has wasted. 447000 dollars, of course this doesnt account for inflation but you just can see the crazy. I can think of a million better things to due with that tax money than locking this dude up and ruining a good portion of his life.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
First offense should get life. Like you said, if you cant do the time, dont do the crime.
Do you even care what the actual offense is?
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