Parole denied for 68-year-old in Alabama: ‘A life sentence for growing marijuana’

gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 990 points –
Parole denied for 68-year-old in Alabama: ‘A life sentence for growing marijuana’
al.com
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Fuck Alabama and its bullshit ass laws

Alabama actually has medical cannabis now, maybe soon?

Alabama has plenty of problems outside of being able to smoke weed or not

For example choosing to imprison older people to what is effectively a life sentence for a non violent charge

Sorry, that was my point I tried to make. If they legalize to recreational, expunging convictions is a much bigger likelihood and maybe he will see freedom soon.

That's a massive leap. Even if they legalized recreational, and that's a BIG if, that doesn't mean they will expunge existing convictions.

They probably do have ‘Ass Laws’ on the books there

Code of Alabama Sec. 13A-6-64 - Sodomy in the Second Degree.

Includes consenting adults having oral and anal sex. But Alabama says they do not and will not prosecute people for it. Still on the books, though.

Lawyers fucking suck. They always have to play fucking games with unspoken language. Their full sentence is:

“do not and will not prosecute people for it…until the Comstock Act comes back into effect or the 14th Amendment no longer provides privacy protections.”

Lawyers would weasel us out of any and all rights just because it gives them more billable hours and more casework.

Overzealous legislators who make the laws and mandatory minimums suck first and foremost, then prosecutors and sentencing judges who do not use judicial discretion fairly and empathetically. Lots of lawyers are good people and it's worth noting that civil rights are protected almost exclusively by lawyers.

Lawyers have no obligation to act with empathy. There is no obligation to act fairly - because they can always twist the definition of what “is” is. I can find a thousand examples of unfair judicial actions that legally wouldn’t be considered unfair.

Hell, Anthony Scalia said “mere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached.” How can that not be the definition of unfair - our SCoTUS ruled that it’s totally legal and fair to execute a factually innocent person.

Civil rights need protection primarily because of the lawyers trying to infringe on them.

The people of Alabama voted in an election (2014, I think) whether to keep or not the unenforceable law that forbids interracial marriage. More than 40% voted to keep it. Fuck them.