Prosecutors are the most sadistic people in the entire judicial system. You'd be surprised by how generous some governors can become when dealing with clemency requests. Trust me, talking about being tough and having to personally examine cases are very different things. For example, in 2015, Governor Rick Scott voted to shorten the sentence of a drunk driver who'd killed a young man in a crash. He did this after the victim's parents unexpectedly pleaded for leniency on the driver's behalf.
Scott said he was swayed by powerful testimony last year by the family of Doug Garrity, who was killed in the 2009 truck crash. Though they lost their son, Garrity's parents pleaded with the governor and Cabinet to reduce Josh Hunter's 10-year sentence. "It is rare to see a victim's family advocating for a man responsible for the death of their son," Scott said.
Hunter was a popular football coach at Braden River High in Bradenton in 2009. Witnesses say he had at least 14 drinks at a party when he got behind the wheel of his pickup truck with Garrity, one of Hunter's assistant coaches, as his passenger. The minimum sentence for DUI manslaughter is four years, but Hunter was sentenced to 10 years. Scott said Hunter deserved a prison sentence, but said he could be valuable to the community by talking to young people about his crime.
Scott proposed Hunter's sentence be dropped to seven years in prison, one year on house arrest and seven years of probation. Scott and the Cabinet also ordered Hunter to talk to young people about drinking and driving as part of more than 1,000 hours of community service.
I have a friend whose son is serving an eight year sentence for DUI manslaughter but is expected to get out early. Though not cause his victim’s family spoke for him.
Earlier this month, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves granted clemency to black man who had been illegally sentenced to 15 years in prison. Marcus Taylor was sentenced to 15 years in prison on a drug-related charge, despite the statutory maximum sentence for it under state law being 5 years. Reeves was likely unaware of this case until a recent court ruling brought it to his attention. After learning about it, his reaction was, "Well, that's stupid."
"It is undisputed, as recently confirmed by all 10 members of the Mississippi Court of Appeals, that such a sentence for the offense committed plainly is illegal. Mr. Taylor has served more than 10 years of his sentence, and further service of this sentence in excess of the five-year statutory maximum constitutes a miscarriage of justice."
The Attorney General of Mississippi, Lynn Fitch, had been planning to fight the ruling.
Honestly fuck that, should have served that whole sentence plus more. Drunk driving is one of the most easily preventable forms of death. That man is a selfish fuck and deserves his punishment. People will say it’s just an accident a mistake but if their mistake takes the life of an innocent person they deserve to rot.
I don’t disagree, but that’s what clemency is - a decision not to inflict upon someone the full extent of what they deserve. The man still did seven years, if the victim’s family wanted to show mercy and they could put his life to some better use I’m not against it.
OP's link also says he was given 500h of community service, lost his law license and his job, and had an investigation opened into all his other similar past cases. Still fucked up but not as bad as OP made it sound.
Him being disbarred was a given. Prosecutors get disbarred for wilful misconduct every now and then, but it is extraordinarily rare for them to serve time in jail.
This country is a fucking joke. Those at the top enrich themselves at the rest of our expense. It’s like the Roman Republic where high office was widely understood by the upper crust as a singular opportunity to defraud or steal as much money as possible.
The worst long term consequence of the Duke Rape Case is that a firebrand conservative Duke student who defended the players from the beginning was completely vindicated by the result. His name: Stephen Miller.
This guy went to my church! It was so insane when this stuff came out. He was that guy that all the teenagers respected. Even my wild ass would straighten up around Ken, bc he seemed so intense.
I knew something was up with him even as a young adult, when both his kids started to act funny I knew he had a different side than we had been seeing
Hard to put in words, at least in any succinct fashion.
But suffice to say his outward persona was almost perfect, he was beyond reproach… but the way his wife and sons behaved around him… in more intimate settings without the crowd around…. I just knew something was off even as a young teen.
Mike Nifong spent one day in jail for conspiring to withhold the results of DNA tests which proved that Crystal Mangum was a liar who had falsely accused three Duke lacrosse players of gang raping her in 2006. The accuser was black and all three of those accused were white. Nifong, who claimed that the alleged gang rape was racially motivated, was wiling to do whatever it took to exploit the case to make a name for himself.
Take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. and yet... and yet you act as if there is some ideal order in the world, as if there is some... some rightness in the universe by which it may be judged.
Christ this is depressing.
Prosecutors are the most sadistic people in the entire judicial system. You'd be surprised by how generous some governors can become when dealing with clemency requests. Trust me, talking about being tough and having to personally examine cases are very different things. For example, in 2015, Governor Rick Scott voted to shorten the sentence of a drunk driver who'd killed a young man in a crash. He did this after the victim's parents unexpectedly pleaded for leniency on the driver's behalf.
I have a friend whose son is serving an eight year sentence for DUI manslaughter but is expected to get out early. Though not cause his victim’s family spoke for him.
Earlier this month, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves granted clemency to black man who had been illegally sentenced to 15 years in prison. Marcus Taylor was sentenced to 15 years in prison on a drug-related charge, despite the statutory maximum sentence for it under state law being 5 years. Reeves was likely unaware of this case until a recent court ruling brought it to his attention. After learning about it, his reaction was, "Well, that's stupid."
The Attorney General of Mississippi, Lynn Fitch, had been planning to fight the ruling.
Honestly fuck that, should have served that whole sentence plus more. Drunk driving is one of the most easily preventable forms of death. That man is a selfish fuck and deserves his punishment. People will say it’s just an accident a mistake but if their mistake takes the life of an innocent person they deserve to rot.
I don’t disagree, but that’s what clemency is - a decision not to inflict upon someone the full extent of what they deserve. The man still did seven years, if the victim’s family wanted to show mercy and they could put his life to some better use I’m not against it.
10 years is a long fucking time to be in prison man
drink driving should carry the same punishment whether you injure/kill someone or not
Seven years of probation sounds awful. I'd rather have jail time.
OP's link also says he was given 500h of community service, lost his law license and his job, and had an investigation opened into all his other similar past cases. Still fucked up but not as bad as OP made it sound.
Him being disbarred was a given. Prosecutors get disbarred for wilful misconduct every now and then, but it is extraordinarily rare for them to serve time in jail.
This country is a fucking joke. Those at the top enrich themselves at the rest of our expense. It’s like the Roman Republic where high office was widely understood by the upper crust as a singular opportunity to defraud or steal as much money as possible.
It’s why Luigi must be acquitted. Blatant two tier system that never holds the wealthy accountable
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Mangum she's in prison for 2nd degree murder.
And she was charged with attempted murder of a different guy before that. Wow.
She really is a lovely woman
Came here for this.
The worst long term consequence of the Duke Rape Case is that a firebrand conservative Duke student who defended the players from the beginning was completely vindicated by the result. His name: Stephen Miller.
This guy went to my church! It was so insane when this stuff came out. He was that guy that all the teenagers respected. Even my wild ass would straighten up around Ken, bc he seemed so intense.
I knew something was up with him even as a young adult, when both his kids started to act funny I knew he had a different side than we had been seeing
What were his kids doing?
Hard to put in words, at least in any succinct fashion.
But suffice to say his outward persona was almost perfect, he was beyond reproach… but the way his wife and sons behaved around him… in more intimate settings without the crowd around…. I just knew something was off even as a young teen.
Kinda like the trinity killer from Dexter
Mike Nifong spent one day in jail for conspiring to withhold the results of DNA tests which proved that Crystal Mangum was a liar who had falsely accused three Duke lacrosse players of gang raping her in 2006. The accuser was black and all three of those accused were white. Nifong, who claimed that the alleged gang rape was racially motivated, was wiling to do whatever it took to exploit the case to make a name for himself.
Twenty five years for ten days. Just. Insane.
Take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. and yet... and yet you act as if there is some ideal order in the world, as if there is some... some rightness in the universe by which it may be judged.
Terry Pratchett
Mike Nifong - DA for Durham County, NC. Pushed the Duke LaCrosse case despite evidence clearing the players. Got disbarred for it.