What is going on with the Utah judicial system?
 

Check out these two articles from today's Salt Lake Tribune:

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_7630076?source=rv

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_7630077?source=rv

Case 1: Man gets 55 YEARS for dealing pot with a concealed firearm (first offense)- the man is black.

Case 2: Man gets 1-15 years for nearly starving a child to death over the course of a year while the child's mother was in Iraq (child went from 35 pounds to 13 under his care while he was admittedly wasted on drugs and alcohol)- man is white.

Race may have nothing to do with the disparity, but you have to at least wonder. 55 years for dealing pot with a gun hardly seems constitutional.

One could argue that the US's treatment of drugs as a whole is a form of racism. Those convicted of possession with intent to distribute often get sentences that exceed assault or manslaughter. I don't know if I agree that it's racist, but I do think that our treatment of drug users/dealers is disproportionately severe.

Interesting article on the drug war:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/sto...e_war_on_drugs

I thought the article said that the term was mandatory. Juries don't get told what the sentence is going to be before they convict. So say that there is a mandatory sentence of 14 years for each conviction. The judge then has no choice but to impose it.

Legislators love to look tough and enact mandatory minimum sentencing, but 99% of the time something that removes discretion from the judge or prosecutor is bad. Bad bad bad. Sounds to me like they have a lousy law. I don't see it as racist though. I hope the 8th amendment challenge is successful. Sounds like the trial judge was all but inviting that sort of challenge with the language he used when he imposed it.

I am actually quite familiar with Paul Cassell, and I am confident this was not a racist move on his part. I am more confused with why the prosecutor would bring the charges knowing the consequences and the likelihood of conviction. I am shocked a deal couldn't have been worked out in the case.

The mandatory minimum sentencing, as Woot noted, does have some possible racist factors driving it. In any event, it is an awful idea and rarely produces anything good.

Did you completely ignore the part of the story that tells us that the sentence was mandatory?

Judge Cassell has lamented that it was a harsh sentence, but he had no choice but to hand down the punishment. It has absolutely nothing to do with race.

The other guy has pretty much been given a death sentence when the other prisoners find out what a coward he is for abusing a small child. Hopefully, the department of corrections will put him in general population so he can be treated the way he deserves to be treated.

http://cougarguard.com/forum/showpos...14&postcount=5

Look up.

White Soccer moms hooked on meth is huge a racial issue.

I have no sympathy for someone who willingly breaks the law. If the guy didn't want to go to jail, he shouldn't have tried to sell pot. It really is that simple.

Come on, dude. You make a blanket statement that cannot possibly be your honest opinion.

The punishment has to fit the crime. Otherwise, you would have no problem with any of the following:

A woman jaywalks and gets cited. She goes to jail for 44 years.
A man is pulled over for speeding. Life in prison.
An 18 year old college student steals a video game from Best Buy. Death penalty.

If they didn't want the punishment, they should have just followed the law. It really is that simple.