Date sent: Sat, 6 Mar 1999 04:58:15 +0000 Subject: EFFECTIVE JUSTICE NEWSLETTER #2 Send reply to: fedup@flash.net Priority: normal (recipient list suppressed) CFEJ NEWSLETTER #2 Hello, This is NOT a "spam" -- if you are reading this, we have either been in contact via e-mail; or, you signed up for this through my old "get remind" newsletter link. If your address wound up in the wrong folder and you do not want to be on this list, please e-mail me with "REMOVE" in the subject line. ******************************************************************** CREATIVE SENTENCING.... I heard about this on the news today and thought you folks might get a chuckle from it... Denver area (Ft. Luftin???) Municipal Judge Paul Sacko has a creative way of dealing with people convicted of Denver's excessive noise ordinance. Instead of the traditional fine for blasting everyone in the vicinity's eardrums with their particular choice of music, this judge sentences them to a number of hours in a locked room listening to tunes which OTHER people enjoy; but, they despise. This could range from the Barrney theme or bagpipe music to more mainstream music such as John Denver, Wayne Newton, country, or classical. It seems to have been effective in giving at least one fellow a bit of empathy for those whom he had inflicted his music -- he chose to have his high powered car stereo system removed in short order, after this "horrific" punishment... Hmmmm.... This judge might be a good ally for us. I'd really appreciate any of you in the Denver area digging up some contact info on him and sending it to me. :--) Also, if you hear of other judges, D. A.'s, etc. who seem open to the idea of non-traditional sentencing methods, please pass their names and contact info. to me. ******************************************************************** NEW "HONOR SYSTEM" I'm needing to spend so much time out of town lately that it's resulted in my being able to check the P.O. box infrequent and erratic. Because of this, combined with the fact that getting this information out to the largest number of people possible (as opposed to any personal profit), I've made the decision to make the electronic version of the book available on an "honor system" basis. The transfer of the web site to it's new, larger, domain site has freed up enough space on the old Flash Net site for me to upload the book in an unzipped, .txt format, which can be read on line; or, the individual files can be saved from the screen.. The zipped version has now been posted without the password protection. (All copyrights are retained.) Click on this link to visit the download center: http://www.flash.net/~fedup/dwnload.htm ******************************************************************** JUST IN CASE... I'm going to be heading back down to Dallas some time this week and I'm hoping that my laptop will handle mailing out the newsletter; but, if it "goes into coronary arrest" trying to process the distribution list and I can't, it will resume when I get back to OKC and a "real" computer. Barring anything unforseen, though, I'll be replying to e-mail, even if it won't send the newsletter. ******************************************************************** CLEARING UP SOME CONFUSION: I'm commonly asked asked to clarify the differences between C.A.S., C.A.S. laws, and waiver based sentencing. Since there's quite a bit of overlap, this confusion is understandably; so, this seems like a good venue for shedding a little light for those of you who have felt a little confused by this; but, who haven't asked. "C.A.S." is simply an abbreviation for corporal alternative sentencing. It can denote anything from the sentence imposed to the proposed legislation, depending upon the context. "Waivers" can denote the (either pre- or post-legislative) consent forms, which are currently necessary for corporal alternative sentencing to be legal. I think part of the confusion stems from the fact that so many people don't realize that such waivers are legal right now -- without the legislation being passed. They are based upon the same precedents which a defendant's right to voluntarily make a confession, to waive a jury trial, to have the sentence determined by the judge (if convicted by a jury) instead of by the jury, or even to plead guilty and be sentenced without a trial. The purpose of C.A.S. legislation is to open such a right up to people who have already been sentenced, which would make prison bed space available for people who either could not qualify for such re-sentencing or who preferred to choose incarceration. It will also establish the guidelines which are necessary for many judges to be willing to approves such waivers. Without anything on the books, most judges feel a great deal of trepidation, and fear that if it became public that they had allowed a defendant in their court to choose this option, it would turn into a political and media "three ring circus." It would also give this type of an alternative a "legitimacy" which would be useful at such time that we attempt the transition from waiver based corporal sentencing to it becoming a mandatory "norm" for certain crimes. ******************************************************************** WHAT ARE OUR CHANCES??? A number of people have asked me what our chances are of ever reaching the point which I portray in the book. My "stock reply" is, "That's entirely up to you..." It CAN occur, as long as we proceed carefully, methodically, and diligently. Because of the current legal precedents, building a strong foundation of waiver cases is the only viable way to insure that (later) mandatory sentencing laws would withstand the inevitable legal challenges. If we try to "rush in" with any sort of mandatory corporal sentencing laws, before such precedent is well established, it would destroy any chances of ever getting such laws upheld. The way that we're going about this is slow; but, that's an advantage in and of itself, since the real attacks won't begin until we really start getting taken seriously -- hopefully, by then, we'll already have enough of a precedent base to fight back with... That's why I really need to be able to start taking a lot more of the potential waiver cases that I'm approached about. (especially the "low profile" ones. ) ******************************************************************** WEB PAGES WHICH HAVE EITHER BEEN ADDED OR MODIFIED SINCE THE LAST NEWSLETTER:
WHAT CAN I DO???
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
******************************************************************** HUMOR -- This issues "dumb criminal" stories are drawn from:my external links page. Indiana: A man walked up to a cashier at a grocery store and demanded all the money in the register. When the cashier handed him the loot, he fled -- leaving his wallet on the counter. England: A German "tourist," supposedly on a golf holiday, shows up at customs with his golf bag.While making idle chatter about golf, the customs official realizes that the tourist does not know what a "handicap" is. The customs official asks the tourist to demonstrate his swing, which he does -- backward! A substantial amount of narcotics was found in the golf bag. Germany: Oil of Olay no longer turning the trick for her, a woman decided that she would bathe in the milk of a camel (a modern day Cleopatra). So she stole a camel from the local zoo (where *else* can you find a camel when you need one?) and transported it back to her house -- where upon she realized that the camel's name was ... "Otto." [Editor's Note: She might not have gotten any milk from Otto, but she probably made a friend for life while trying.... ;-) ] Arizona: A company called "Guns For Hire" stages gunfights for Western movies, etc. One day, they received a call from a 47-year- old woman, who wanted to have her husband killed. She got 4-1/2 years in jail. ******************************************************************** Feel free to pass this newsletter along to your friends. Remember, I need the help of all of you to make this newsletter interesting to read... Please pass along: any information which you feel is interesting and relevant to the issue of making our criminal justice system more effective, any interesting proposed legislation, "editorials" related to the need for C.A.S. laws, entertaining "dumb criminal" stories, or your suggestions for material to include in this fledgling newsletter. If I think it's appropriate, I'll include it. To retain confidentiality, if you send me something you'd like included in the newsletter, please include a note to that effect and letting me know if you want your name, e-mail address, etc. included. If you send me any copyrighted material, please include the information necessary for me to contact the copyright holder for permission to "reprint" it in the newsletter ********************************************************** "FED UP" with crime and prison overcrowding??? Together, we CAN make a difference... http://www.reducecrime.org (405) 722-3633 **********************************************************