Odd/Oppressive Laws

I suppose this can be a thread for arcane, oppressive, and unjust laws in the U.S. This case has gotten some attention. Very strange. Bizarre. Stupid.

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Ga. Supreme Court rejects teen’s appeal in sex case
12/16/2006
ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia Supreme Court has turned down an appeal from a teen who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having sex with a 15-year-old.
In a ruling released Friday, the court denied a motion for reconsideration filed by lawyers for Genarlow Wilson, who was 17 when he and the 15-year-old engaged in consensual oral sex. He was sentenced for aggravated child molestation.
Wilson’s case was one of two cases that were cited earlier this year when lawmakers passed a law that otherwise strengthened penalties for sex offenders, but reduced the penalty from a felony to a misdemeanor for some teenagers convicted of sodomy.
Presiding Justice Carol Hunstein noted that in easing the penalties for teens, ‘‘the Legislature expressly chose not to allow the provisions of the new amendments to affect persons convicted under the previous version of the statute.’’
Hunstein added she was ‘‘very sympathetic to Wilson’s argument regarding the injustice of sentencing this promising young man with good grades and no criminal history to 10 years in prison without parole and a lifetime registration as a sexual offender because he engaged in consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old victim only two years his junior,’’ but said the court was bound the by limits set by the Legislature. ———
On the Net:
Georgia Supreme Court: The Supreme Court of Georgia :: gasupreme.us :: Home.

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The 'Three strikes and you're out' laws in some states of the US are classic.:rolleyes:
"In one particularly notorious case, Kevin Weber was sentenced to 26 years to life for the crime of stealing four chocolate chip cookies (previous strikes of burglary and assault with a deadly weapon).[3]" :confused:

Three strikes law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Originally Posted by sabang

The 'Three strikes and you're out' laws in some states of the US are classic.:rolleyes:
"In one particularly notorious case, Kevin Weber was sentenced to 26 years to life for the crime of stealing four chocolate chip cookies (previous strikes of burglary and assault with a deadly weapon).[3]" :confused:

Three strikes law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Yeah, Sabang

There have been some very brutal 3-strike sentences because of the "petty with a prior" code in the California legal system.

One guy is Jerry Williams who was sentence to 25 to life for taking a piece of pizza from some kids sitting at a table in Redondo Beach. He was drunk with a friend on the boardwalk on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

He served about 6 years or so, before being released on some legal move.

(google "Jerry Williams" 3-strikes if you want.

I like 3 strikes overall. We have it in Washington state also.

It's not being applied by prosecutors in many cases such as the one you noted above. But yes, there are some bad sentences given to harmless people.

I always figured '3 strikes' should be 3 convictions for the same felony or same class (3 assaults, 3 robberies, etc.)

mandatory sentences are crazy....and this is particularly true with '3 strikes'.

Mandatory sentences make the justice system more fair.

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Originally Posted by surasak

I always figured '3 strikes' should be 3 convictions for the same felony or same class (3 assaults, 3 robberies, etc.)

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Generally speaking (I may not be answering your question), the folks that get 3-strikes have dozens of felonies on their records over many years.

However....with "petty with a prior" it means in California, that if you commit a "petty" crime (e.g. theft) but have a prior felony, that petty theft is a felony, and applicable to three strikes law.

That's why the drunk guy who stole batteries from the Supermarket got 25-to-life.

But...they have modified the law.

Overall...I support three strikes.

Many career criminal left these states after these laws were passed.

As well I don't think that a person who steals $500 worth of stuff three times in a row deserves life in prison either.

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Originally Posted by surasak

As well I don't think that a person who steals $500 worth of stuff three times in a row deserves life in prison either.

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Totally agree.

There are some true stories of people that got sentenced under 3-strikes for very minor crimes. Hopefully there's been modifications, but I'm not sure.

I have googled some very trivial thefts that ended up with sentences of 25-to-life.

^ I agree, but I also agree with Saudi,And I believe the French had such a thing too, if you steal they chop off your left hand, second time is your right hand, and if you do it a 3rd time, they chop off your fokin head.

Anyway I noticed a lot of Viets with a hand gone, so think they must have had that law.:rofl:

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Originally Posted by blackgang

^ I agree, but I also agree with Saudi,And I believe the French had such a thing too, if you steal they chop off your left hand, second time is your right hand, and if you do it a 3rd time, they chop off your fokin head.

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As long as the system and trial is fair, and no mistakes are made. It's hard to sow the hand back on. :(

I don't like thieves. They've stolen from me, and we've all known people who've been burgled. It's a rotten feeling to come and home and your stuff is gone. A violation.

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Anyway I noticed a lot of Viets with a hand gone, so think they must have had that law.:rofl:

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The mafia does cut off the pinky finger to send a message. It usually involves money.

(Maybe your joking about the missing hand. Or, referring to the false story about the cutting off arms that were inoculated. That never happened.)

Nope, I did see a lot of middle age Viets with one hand gone when I was there, just thought that maybe the frogs did it as I knew that they were a thieving bunch of bastards, Knew you wouldn't shoot em in broad daylight.

^ I've never seen them.

They exist, but the reasons why, I don't know.

Rare.