[Vision2020] [corrected] It's Time for an Honest Conversation About Marijuana . . .

Wed Aug 14 16:44:54 PDT 2013

Sunil!!!  The price of the dope is completely irrelevant to her plea of guilty and the sentencing of the law that she herself admitted she broke.  If it was relevant in any way whatsoever, then her PD should have made it such.  For all I know she didn't have PD.  For all I know, she had absolutely zero legal representation.  The only thing I've read is that she entered a 'blind plea' which in retrospect seemed to have been a MONUMENTAL MISTAKE on her part.  I've seen nothing about the exact law that she blindly plead guilty to, but my guess is that it was something along the lines 'FELONY DRUG DEALING'.  Can you explain to me how the $31 bag of dope is relevent whatsoever???  She blindly plead guilty to felony drug dealing.  This phase of the legal proceedings is now done.  The next phase is sentencing.  For all I know, the sentencing was a simple lookup table that resulted in '12 years behind bars'.  It might have been wise to go that lookup table prior to entering a blind plea.  It might have been wise to have a defense lawyer.  If Ms. Spottedcrow had hired you to defend, do you think she would have gotten 12 years?  I don't.  I don't think she would have gotten 12 months behind bars.  Her own mom got a 30 year SUSPENDED sentence.  She herself with 3 or 4 young kids couldn't have gotten a similar suspended sentence with representation from a halfway decent PD???

Beyond that, one of the articles I found had snipets that read:
'Spottedcrow took responsibility for her crime and told the board that 
things in her life at the time of her arrest were spiraling out of 
control, and prison may have saved her life, Dreyer said.
'

What a shame, eh, that 'prison may have saved her life' that was 'spiraling out of 
control'.

-Scott

From: sunilramalingam at hotmail.com
CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 05:32:31 -0700
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] [corrected] It's Time for an Honest Conversation About Marijuana . . .

The amount is not irrelevant. IF you're going to criminalize selling MJ, you should not treat all people who sell in the same way. The person selling large quantities should face a higher penalty than someone selling a minor amount.

Sunil

From: scooterd408 at hotmail.com
To: thansen at moscow.com
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 16:02:05 -0600
CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] [corrected] It's Time for an Honest Conversation About Marijuana . . .

Tom wrote:
<A 30-dollar sale in 2010 DOES NOT equate to "a big bulk package".>

I agree.  The $30 (or in this case $31) is irrelevant except to you because you keep harping on it as if it has any merit to the law(s) being broken or to the associated sentencing terms.  "a big bulk package" would be indicative of it's physical dimensions and mass and no one seems to be able to get that information since their is so little information available about this case.  Distilling it down to basics, she was dealing drugs, she was caught, she was charged, she plead guilty, she was sentenced accordingly, and she was released 2 years after service her 12 year sentence.  Simple as that.  Disproportionate?  Probably.

<Another aspect to consider as to why so many defendants convicted of minor crimes is . . . privatized prison systems.>
Untrue.  Privatized prison system are not the cause of why many defendants are convicted of minor crimes.  That's a ridiculous notion.

CC: moscowcares at moscow.com; vision2020 at moscow.com
From: thansen at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] [corrected] It's Time for an Honest Conversation About Marijuana . . .
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 14:26:28 -0700
To: scooterd408 at hotmail.com

Mr. Dredge . . . 
A 30-dollar sale in 2010 DOES NOT equate to "a big bulk package".  In fact, it barely qualifies as a user quantity (a standard many states apply when determining whether or not to charge "with intent to sell").  
Now, that "big bulk package" on the other hand is comon among those charged with intent to sell.
Another aspect to consider as to why so many defendants convicted of minor crimes is . . . privatized prison systems.  The more prisoners, the higher the government pay-out to the privatized prisons.  There are several strong lobbies that promote these privatized prison systems.  I'd be interested to see if there is such a lobby here in Idaho and just how much influence they applied when Idaho adopted the privatized prison system.
Things that make you go, "Hmmm."
Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .
"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)http://www.MoscowCares.com  Tom HansenMoscow, Idaho
"There's room at the top they are telling you still But first you must learn how to smile as you kill If you want to be like the folks on the hill."
- John Lennon

On Aug 13, 2013, at 2:11 PM, Scott Dredge <scooterd408 at hotmail.com> wrote:

Tom,

There are so few details that I can find about this particular case, I'm not able to give my best unbiased opinion on it.  Everything I've searched for hits on the same one-sided text.  Absent any other information, I had already conceded below that 12 years was 'too much' in my opinion and that even 2 years was 'probably too much'.

The arbitrary price tag she put on the bag she was selling probably was completely irrelevant to the law being applied.  Usually laws specify the weighted amount of the drugs being dealt or in possession.  She shouldn't have been dealing the shit.  Hopefully she's the wiser for it now and stays out of trouble.

I was once foreman of 12 person jury on a case where a guy was charged with 1) an infraction of having an open container, 2) a misdemeanor of possession of a controlled substance, and 3) a felony of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell.

The first 2 charges weren't even contested, so with the consent of the jury I just checked 'guilty' on the verdict form for both of those counts.  Considering the guy had 4 ready to serve packets along with a big bulk package, we the jury eventually unanimously found him 'guilty' on the felony count as well.  I have no idea what the sentencing was but when I phoned the prosecutor the next day because I was curious as to why he so aggressively went after this seemingly small time criminal who had the bad luck of blowing through a stop sign right in front a cop, he told me the judge would probably sentence him to 2 to 3 years.

In the case of Patricia Spottedcrow, she and her mom apparently submitted blind pleas (whatever those are) and was hit with whatever sentencing was applied to breaking those laws.  I agree with Wayne in that if the laws are unjust, then they should be changed.  A lot of times it takes just the right case such as this one to actually force a change.

-Scot

CC: sunilramalingam at hotmail.com; vision2020 at moscow.com
From: moscowcares at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [corrected] It's Time for an Honest Conversation About Marijuana . . .
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 12:00:59 -0700
To: scooterd408 at hotmail.com

Mr. Dredge -
Do you have ANY idea of the negligible amount of marijuana sold for $30 in 2010 amounts to?
Let me give you an idea.
In 1977 in San Francisco an ounce of Columbian sold for $50-$60.  That was THIRTY-THREE YEARS prior to this 30-dollar "sale".
And for THAT, this lady was sentenced to twelve years in prison.
Meanwhile San Diego Mayor Filner walks away from sexually assaulting thirteen women after FIVE DAYS OF THERAPY.
God bless America . . . . . . please.
Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .
"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)http://www.MoscowCares.com  Tom HansenMoscow, Idaho
"There's room at the top they are telling you still But first you must learn how to smile as you kill If you want to be like the folks on the hill."
- John Lennon

On Aug 13, 2013, at 11:46 AM, Scott Dredge <scooterd408 at hotmail.com> wrote:

In this particular case, it's a a mixed bag regarding marijuana laws making sense / working.  She sold a bag of marijuana which I'm guessing would be a much worse offense than merely being in possession of it.  12 years for all of her combined crimes is too much in my amateur opinion.  The 2 years she served is probably too much.  On the upside, while incarcerated she completed her GED and took parenting classes and participated in a few other programs that were offered.  Hopefully she's come out of this experience as more functional person.

I think if the marijuana laws are not making sense and not working, it might be because marijuana is lumped into to the same category as say cocaine.  I'm not sure of the laws, but if this is the case, then marijuana should be moved into some lesser category.  Even so, dealing it should carry a heavier penalty than possessing it.

From: sunilramalingam at hotmail.com
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 05:35:13 -0700
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] It's Time for an Honest Conversation About Marijuana . . .

Wayne,

Do you think our marijuana laws make sense or are working?

Sunil

From: bear at moscow.com
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 18:37:58 -0700
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] It's Time for an Honest Conversation About	Marijuana . . .

Honest?  I think not!
Served 2 years in prison, not 12. 

On Aug 12, 2013, at 6:05 PM, Tom Hansen wrote:<1146440_502299883171842_938877420_n.jpg>
Cannabis Nationhttp://www.cannabisnationradio.com/  
Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .
"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)http://www.MoscowCares.com  Tom HansenMoscow, Idaho
"There's room at the top they are telling you still But first you must learn how to smile as you kill If you want to be like the folks on the hill."
- John Lennon
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 List services made available by First Step Internet,
 serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
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 List services made available by First Step Internet,
 serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
               http://www.fsr.net
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======================================================= 		 	   		  
=======================================================
 List services made available by First Step Internet,
 serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
               http://www.fsr.net
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======================================================= 		 	   		  

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 List services made available by First Step Internet,
 serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
               http://www.fsr.net
          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
======================================================= 		 	   		  

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