VA man, in jail for stealing $550, released after pardon of life sentence
27 replies, posted
https://wtop.com/virginia/2018/06/va-man-serving-life-terms-for-robberies-released-after-pardon/
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — A man serving two life sentences for robbing a total of $550 is
free after being pardoned earlier this year by former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
The Virginian-Pilot reports Lenny Singleton left the St. Brides Correctional Center in
Chesapeake Wednesday after 23 years behind bars.
Singleton had been in the U.S. Navy before becoming addicted to drugs. He was
sentenced to two life sentences plus 110 years robbing several people of a total of $550.
According to the newspaper, no one was injured.
Singleton says he blames himself for the crimes, but McAuliffe said in his pardon that the
court had “unjustly imposed a deeply severe punishment.”
Singleton says he and his wife plan to start a website that helps others getting out of prison.
Knew he was a black guy before even looking into it. That's how predictable this kind of racism is
Holy fuck that sentence is overkill.
I read the article and immediately asked "Was he black?"
Of course he was. ugh.
In a way, the south is still dependent on forced labor from black people, just from private prisons now.
Prison labor was specifically allowed under the 13th Amendment.
Yeah that and privatised prisons need to end NOW
It's quite a nasty blend of tax leeching, forced labor, and disenfranchisement.
And it incentivizes the police to arrest (especially black) people for no reason
Cops don't get kickbacks from prisons for sending them people.
This is the country where Cash For Kids happened. I wouldn't say it's impossible for similar deals to exist all over the country, perhaps with local PDs involved.
minor clarification, Cash for Kids is an unfortunately-named but entirely unrelated UK charity. You're thinking of the Kids for Cash scandal.
It gets more fucked up,
he got two life sentences and a 100 year sentence...
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/05/us/mass-incarceration-drug-offenses-zero-tolerance-prisons.html
That's not what I said lol
That's not what I said, but also this argument defending what I said
Also cash4kids.com was a judiciary scandal
...no an argument defending a point I didn't make. What kinda 'gotcha' are you going for?
You said it incentivizes it. How can it do that if the cops don't get anything for arresting people?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticket_quota
Tickets are not major contributors to private prison populations. Most people either pay or contest tickets, and only in the most extreme cases will go to jail/prison over them.
pardon my ignorance but private prisons are a thing??? why would you put lives into organizations aiming to make money??? or am I understanding this wrong?
Private prisons are given money from the state government based on how many prisoners they have. It incentivizes keeping as many people incarcerated for as long as possible.
This is exacerbated by the war on drugs that particularly affects poor minorities, which also has the "benefit" of felons not being able to vote in several states.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/US_Incarceration_Rate_per_100%2C000_Inhabitants_by_State.png/800px-US_Incarceration_Rate_per_100%2C000_Inhabitants_by_State.png
Louisana has overhauled it's criminal justice law last year though and Oklahoma is now number one.
Surprised NM isn't higher TBH. Every town is pretty much Tweakerville down here.
Indeed, as private prison lobbyists will lobby government to create things like mandatory minimums and making drug and other such offence sentences longer, perpetuating the cycle.
There are thousands of stories like this guy still rotting in prison btw, you can thank the Republicans for that one.
No, but prisons and law enforcement are both run from local and state government.
State governments get kickbacks from having private prisons, which funds are then opened to be spent on law enforcement.
They should really reimburse him for wasting over two and a half decades of his life because some people collectively lost $550.
I hate to contest this but for once it wasn't the republicans fault it was the dudes who wrote the 13th amendment. As soon as the civil war was over the south wasted no time putting freed slaves into debt bondage or prison then leased back to the wealthy "former" slave owners.
I don't agree with the length of sentence but pulling a knife on people or making them think you have a gun should hardly be a slap on the wrist. The first article kind of glosses over that fact and makes it seem more like he burglarized or pickpocket. He should have at least got 5 to 10.
However the judge really fucked him bad, and he should receive some sort of compensation for such a blatantly ridiculous sentence.
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