You are correct sir!
Read post #16 and follow the links.
Posted on 05/29/2005 7:11:05 PM PDT by demkicker
RALEIGH, N.C. - Junior Allen, who spent 35 years in North Carolina prisons for stealing a $140 television, walked out of prison Friday a free man.
Allen, 65, will live with relatives in Georgia.
He was paroled on his 26th try after getting a life sentence in 1970 for second-degree burglary. Georgia authorities will supervise Allen's parole, which could last up to five years.
If Allen follows all laws, keeps a job and reports periodically to his parole officer there, he'll gain complete freedom by age 70.
Under an old law, the late Judge Pou Bailey sentenced Allen to life in prison for sneaking into an unlocked house and stealing a 19-inch black-and-white Motorola TV. Allen, a migrant farm worker, was 30.
The harshest punishment the offense could draw now is about three years in prison.
Absolutely! There's a reason why lots of states have a "three strikes and you're out" law, although that wasn't the basis for the life sentence in this case. The third strike doesn't have to be a violent felony. I've heard of prosecutors getting using the three strikes provision when the third offense is DWI or DUI.
Read post #16 and follow the links.
HA!
BECAME a problem child in prison? Sounds like he was a real choirboy before he landed there.../sarcasm off/
Reagan80
Indeed; three strikes and you're out laws came into existence because too many bleeding-heart liberal judges let too much slide...this judge did not; he knew the score. I wonder how many dozen times this perp had been in his courtroom before the fateful sentencing hearing?
Really, beating up an 87 year old woman for a 19 inch black and white TV in 1970? You know, they had color TV's by then, he could at least have stolen a fancy new color model if he were going to get life for it.
Reagan80
It certainly is understandable why their circulation decreased so much in the last year.
Yeah, I've noticed that most of the msm stories leave out these details. No tears for this a##%^&*.
At the ensuing press conf. he said he preferred an electric bench!
So he was trying to save energy and cut costs? An environmentalist who wants to lower taxes. Gotta love it.
"The harshest punishment the offense could draw now is about three years in prison."
I wonder how the crime statistics of today compare to those in 1970. Likely as punishments have eased the incidents have risen.
He likely was not a model inmate because many get off with much less.
Why was this man held for all this time?
Yeah, I'll bet that's the last time he ever steals anything....;^)
It's more like break into an 87 year old woman's house, beat the crap out of her, steal her TV, then get a life sentence for stealing the TV. Sorry, I'm not sympathetic.
Are you always this gullible when you read an article in an MSM publication? The Houston Chronicle (deliberately) left out quite a few important bits of information like the fact that he beat the crap out of the 87 year old woman after breaking into her house then he stole the TV. He was just charged with burglary, but he did a lot more, and he had a long criminal record. He also wasn't a choirboy in prison. That's probably why he didn't get released on parole previously.
-Dan
Sorry, no compassion here. The guy shouldn't have been stealing in the first place.
Just think of all of the nice TVs that he could steal these days.
;-)
Child molester deserve to be executed. They tend not to be reformable.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.