The Briefing Room
General Category => Politics/Government => Topic started by: OfTheCross on September 16, 2019, 08:48:13 pm
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Patricia Spottedcrow found herself in a jail cell last week. It was a familiar place for her: In 2010, she was sentenced to 12 years in prison and $2,740 in fines for selling $31 worth of marijuana to an undercover police informant. That sparked an outcry, especially since she was a first-time offender, and the public outrage led to her early release two years later.
Yet the fines were not dismissed, and late fees mounted with each missed payment. On September 9, the Oklahoma City police arrested her, with the state ordering that Spottedcrow be locked up until she could furnish $1,139.90 of the $3,569.76 she still owed. Meanwhile, she was hit with yet more fines with the new arrest, and they would accrue while she was in jail.
reason (https://reason.com/2019/09/16/woman-sentenced-to-12-years-in-prison-for-selling-31-of-marijuana-lands-back-in-jail-for-court-fees/)
This is the type of thing that we need to reform in the criminal justice system. She may have made the news and gotten out, but there are many who are locked up for long periods for petty non-violent crimes.
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This is not justice, and it is pervasive in the USA.
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This is the type of thing that we need to reform in the criminal justice system. She may have made the news and gotten out, but there are many who are locked up for long periods for petty non-violent crimes.
Define "petty"