[rogue655]

i live in oregon... real close to Cali if you know what i mean...VERY liberal

I live in Eugene.... even worse

[chibearsboy]

I live in Eugene.... even worse

oh yea..i forgot....it smells it there

[spazmatastic]

That kid should have gotten nothing worse than probation. It really sucks how some judges throw the book at someone, while the next judge is much more lenient.
I got busted for shoplifting some food from a gas station while I was homeless about a dozen years ago. I got a fine and 40 hours of Community Service. Someone I was doing the CS with was busted for possessing a significant amount of crack rock. His fine was less than mine AND he only had to do 20 hrs. of Community Service. What kind of BS is that?! I was so PO'd about that when I found out.
Luckily for me, I managed to get some family members to help me with the fine and a place to stay long enough to complete the CS and find a job. Over 10 years later, I still have a job with that same company.

[shezdoni]

I have always gotten slack "how can you do your job"..."how can you defend that guy"...."if you know he's guilty, how can your conscious handle it..."

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS.

look guys - i just pled a guy out to selling $10 of pot to an undercover cop. this kid was raised in sh!t - lived in a hotel with mom (unemployed for however long) and 4 other siblings. he still stayed in school (but as he said it "i mean, mr. meck, i wasn't a great student because my head wasn't right, but i wanted to stay in school to try and graduate. i wanted to make my mom proud. my brother, he's in this jail too - i don't want to be like him."

17 years old. mom ain't doing nuthin...daddy ain't doing nuthin - and isn't around...he's selling 10 bucks of weed - "to get bus fare so i can get a ride to school and have something to eat". he's 17 - his mom nor his dad has even visited him in jail nor called him...and he's been in jail for 4 MONTHS. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME HE'S EVER BEEN IN TROUBLE.

when i sat down to talk to him at the jail, we just had a normal conversation where it went from me being his lawyer to saying to him: "man, what the hell is the problem. You sound like a very smart kid." And we just talked. I don't do that. I've seen hustlers, con artists, thiefs, dealers, murderers, etc.....This kid was different.

i've done this for 8 years, and i almost wept when the judge thought that he should spend a year in prison....because "well, mr. meck - what you are telling me is that he doesn't have any structure in his life, and his mom and dad don't want to have anything to do with him??!!??

ARE YOU F'IN KIDDING ME! HE'S BEEN ON HIS OWN HIS WHOLE LIFE! HE DIDN'T DROP OUT WHEN HE COULD - HE HELD ON TO SCHOOL BECAUSE ITS HIS ONLY FREAKIN FAMILY!

the kid sucked it up and wiped his own tears away and said "what else can I do? I did it, I'm guilty of it." We sat for a couple of minutes in the holding cell and he held his head up and looked at me. "Thank you. I need to go ahead and take care of it. Thank you for your help."

This is a response to Jerome Simpson and his marijuana BS. He ain't no little kid trying to just get by because his parents are garbage. Whatever your feelings on drug legalization - it doesn't matter. it is the law, but there is always mitigating circumstances.

My client will get a year. Jerome Simpson will get nothing.

While I appreciate how difficult your job is, and I do know how difficult it can be, I disagree with your philosophy and feelings on this.

There are a lot of other things he could have been doing to earn the money then selling pot, I know that there are at least a hundred elderly citizens in each town, that need help with doing stuff around their house, like mowing the lawn, raking leaves, cleaning gutters, etc..., that would have paid a lot more than a measly $10 to get it done, however your client took the easy way out he didn't want to do any thing that required a little strength and labor or time....

Sure this may be the first time he got caught, but how many times before this, has he done it and sold larger amounts?, that's something I am sure your client isn't going to tell you the truth about it, who in their right mine would admit to doing it.

As far as the school thing goes, how do you know that he wasn't taking it and selling it there, or how many classes he skipped a week, etc.., , there are a lot of unknowns that you have to take into consideration.

As for the Judge giving him a yr, you already know how difficult your job is, being a judge has to be 100 times worse, I'm sure they don't enjoy putting children in cages, with much older guy's and gals that will just make their life even worse, but they have a job to do, their job is to dole out the punishment, just like your job is to try and get them a leaner punishment, your both just doing your jobs.

As far as the criminal justice system, the United States, probably has the leanest and easiest system to do time in, a lot of other countries, you work your A** off all day long, you get very little food, no 3 meals a day, no cable T.V to watch, no yard time, mouth off to a guard, and you get the crap knocked out of you, etc.....

Some countries are even stricter, commit a murder, yea, your going to get a "fair" trial, and 3 days later , your head comes off publicly, steal something, again a "fair" trial, and 3 days later your hand comes off publicly, rape a woman, same punishment as murder, sleep with someone elses wife, heck you don't get no trial, your neighbors and her hubby can take you out and stone you to death, same thing for the wife.

When the U.S gets it's head out of it's donkey, and make jails someplace where you never, ever want to go or return too, even for the "hardened" career prisoners, then a lot of things would change in this country.

[giantfan270]

I dont feel sorry for "kids" who get in trouble for selling weed/pills to make money NO MATTER what the circumstances are. There are 100s of ways to make money legally. Its up to that person to choose to do the right thing. Most people choose to do the wrong thing because it seems to be an easier choice. Having said that 1 year for a dime bag is absurd and I think weed should be legal. However if you take the risk to deal then take the wrath that comes with it if you get busted.

It's all they got. There are NOT any other ways to make money for these kids. You don't get it. They don't have the choices you and I had or have. There are not 100's of ways to do the right thing. All their worried about is surviving. Where they live, it's all they can do. I live 15 minutes from Newburgh, NY. The highest crime rate in the country. Infested with Bloods and Latin Kings. These kids do these thing because of the way they are raised and where they were raised. They know it's wrong. They don't want to break they law. They do it because it's all they know. It's the environment they are raised in. For this kid to resist that and stay in school, and have enough class and manners to impress Mr. Public Pretender, says something. In the ghetto, even good kids sell weed. I know it's hard for 95% of the population to believe, but it doesn't make him a bad kid. He wasn't caught smoking crack. He was trying to eat! He's only 17. If he was 27, it's a whole different story. The biggest crime here is the lack of oversight and negligent waste of taxpayer dollars in even pursuing a criminal case against pot. If the USA stop spending money on trying to stop pot in this country, and controlled and taxed it instead, we could guarantee Social Security for the next 150 years. Pot will never be hard to obtain, and even the most skilled professionals partake in smoking. It's a war law enforcement will never win and in the meantime our tax dollars go to throwing kids like this in jail. Butt ***** backwards! Read this: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/FBI...89319.html
This is how they live. They have no choice. This is their home. What kind of kid would you be? Watch: http://youtu.be/Fuh2h6NZi_w

[ugameck]

wow. i wrote this, signed off expecting to come back this morning with my post on page three.

i truly appreciate EVERYONE'S opinion on either side.

back to the grind now....

[MellaDAM]

Stories like that are what have screwed up our country so bad... just like this story as well http://tinyurl.com/3rcf83n the man was just hungry and he didn't even have a weapon and to go away for 15 years is ridiculous.

[jacobystealshome]

when jails are privatized, and there is incentive to lock up folks for profit......

point blank: if this kid was some white middle class kid, he gets nothing. period. the drug war in this country has been very profitable for some folks, who get paid to lock up as many dark-skinned folks, as many poor folks, as possible

and the law and order types can wax poetic about how this kid should lift himself up by his bootstraps. hard to do when someone is keeping a foot on your back

im a conservative. i think drugs, including pot, shouldnt be made legal. but i also think the war on drugs is being used in ways that are corrupt, racist, and disproportionate

[bakerman8419]

It's all they got. There are NOT any other ways to make money for these kids. You don't get it. They don't have the choices you and I had or have. There are not 100's of ways to do the right thing. All their worried about is surviving. Where they live, it's all they can do. I live 15 minutes from Newburgh, NY. The highest crime rate in the country. Infested with Bloods and Latin Kings. These kids do these thing because of the way they are raised and where they were raised. They know it's wrong. They don't want to break they law. They do it because it's all they know. It's the environment they are raised in. For this kid to resist that and stay in school, and have enough class and manners to impress Mr. Public Pretender, says something. In the ghetto, even good kids sell weed. I know it's hard for 95% of the population to believe, but it doesn't make him a bad kid. He wasn't caught smoking crack. He was trying to eat! He's only 17. If he was 27, it's a whole different story. The biggest crime here is the lack of oversight and negligent waste of taxpayer dollars in even pursuing a criminal case against pot. If the USA stop spending money on trying to stop pot in this country, and controlled and taxed it instead, we could guarantee Social Security for the next 150 years. Pot will never be hard to obtain, and even the most skilled professionals partake in smoking. It's a war law enforcement will never win and in the meantime our tax dollars go to throwing kids like this in jail. Butt ***** backwards! Read this: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/FBI...89319.html
This is how they live. They have no choice. This is their home. What kind of kid would you be? Watch: http://youtu.be/Fuh2h6NZi_w

Some of this I agree with and some I do not. I find it hard to believe in any neighborhood its impossible to get a job at a mcdonalds, gas station, library, after school program, etc. Kids are simply lazy. If my opinion is off then how did the survive the first 17 years of his life? Someone had to heave been taking pretty good care of him. If he was in school then things shouldn't be has bad as your are painting. If the parents can afford to pay for his schooling Im sure he has some Ramen noodles he could eat. He simply wanted the extra cash so he went to the easiest route to make extra cash. I can speak from personal experience. I too have a 17 brother who makes stupid choices. My parents dont have money and they werent exactly the best parents in the world. The difference is I chose to not deal dope for extra cash. I chose to cut grass. I used to make $175 a week when I was 17 cutting grass legally. I paid for my own lawnmower and my own gas. If you have the will power you can do anything in this world regardless where you were brought up. I realize some places are tougher than others and maybe I cant exactly relate to these places however I do know if you want to better your life you always have a choice.

[eazy e]

In the south drug laws are as stiff as it gets, even for pot they throw the book at you. Besides he was caught SELLING a dime bag not possession there's a big difference. I think weed should be legalized myself. I was a long time smoker(15years) but have since quit for employment purposes. If this kid was white they probably would have gone easier on him..sad...but if he was white and lived in california especially the Bay area or LA where it is basically legal they would have at most confiscated it for possession. Not sure what the punishments are around here for selling as I never got caught doing that. But most likely if it was a small deal nothing would happen. 9 out of 10 people smoke weed here and you can just walk into these medical clinics and buy it off the shelf so cops don't really care about it. But the south is still old school, Your CRAZY if you carry drugs around down there especially Texas. Ive seen people get 20 years for selling a small amount of crack or other hard drugs. In Cali even hard drugs usually nothing happens to you when your caught. Ive got some friends that got hooked on Meth pretty bad when we were kids and still use even to this day. They have been busted for possession probably a DOZEN times and have never spent more than a week or 2 in jail and some probation. In california they just send you to these classes most of the time and there a joke. Moral of the story, know the laws in the state in which you live if you plan on breaking them.