Common Sense

The DMN ran a story today about inequality in the criminal justice system. Color me shocked and amazed because I had no idea./sarcasm>

First came the poor man, barely 17 years old – too young to buy beer or vote, but an adult under the Texas penal code. He took part in a $2 stickup in which no one got hurt. He pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and was put on 10 years of probation.

He broke the rules once, by smoking marijuana. A Dallas judge responded in the harshest possible way: He replaced the original sentence with a life term in prison.

TOM FOX/DMN, File

When Tyrone Brown violated his probation by smoking marijuana, he never expected a judge to give him a life sentence. Inset: John Alexander Wood lives in Waco despite being on probation for murder in Dallas County.

There Tyrone Brown sits today, 16 years later, tattooed and angry and pondering self-destruction. “I’ve tried suicide a few times,” he writes. “What am I to make of a life filled with failure, including failing to end my life?”

Now the flip side of the coin, also from Judge Keith Dean’s court: A well-connected man pleaded guilty to murder – for shooting an unarmed prostitute in the back – and also got 10 years of probation.

The killer proceeded to break the rules by, among other things, smoking crack cocaine. He repeatedly failed drug tests. He was arrested for cocaine possession in Waco while driving a congressman’s car, but prosecutors there didn’t press charges.

Judge Dean has let this man stay free and, last year, exempted him from most of the usual conditions of probation. John Alexander “Alex” Wood no longer must submit to drug tests or refrain from owning a gun or even meet with a probation officer. He’s simply supposed to obey the law and mail the court a postcard once a year that gives his current address.

What the f—?

I wouldn’t even be aware of this story (the DMN doesn’t email story newsletters on weekends) if it had not been for a lady caller at the paper this evening. She wanted us to rerun this story, though we can’t because it is a DMN story and we’re a Cox paper. The next best thing is to link to it myself and hope more people see just how bad it is out there if you are a poor, black man in Texas.

Update: Vince has a link to Grits on this story.

The DMN ran a story today about inequality in the criminal justice system. Color me shocked and amazed because I had no idea./sarcasm>

First came the poor man, barely 17 years old – too young to buy beer or vote, but an adult under the Texas penal code. He took part in a $2 stickup in which no one got hurt. He pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and was put on 10 years of probation.

He broke the rules once, by smoking marijuana. A Dallas judge responded in the harshest possible way: He replaced the original sentence with a life term in prison.

TOM FOX/DMN, File

When Tyrone Brown violated his probation by smoking marijuana, he never expected a judge to give him a life sentence. Inset: John Alexander Wood lives in Waco despite being on probation for murder in Dallas County.

There Tyrone Brown sits today, 16 years later, tattooed and angry and pondering self-destruction. “I’ve tried suicide a few times,” he writes. “What am I to make of a life filled with failure, including failing to end my life?”

Now the flip side of the coin, also from Judge Keith Dean’s court: A well-connected man pleaded guilty to murder – for shooting an unarmed prostitute in the back – and also got 10 years of probation.

The killer proceeded to break the rules by, among other things, smoking crack cocaine. He repeatedly failed drug tests. He was arrested for cocaine possession in Waco while driving a congressman’s car, but prosecutors there didn’t press charges.

Judge Dean has let this man stay free and, last year, exempted him from most of the usual conditions of probation. John Alexander “Alex” Wood no longer must submit to drug tests or refrain from owning a gun or even meet with a probation officer. He’s simply supposed to obey the law and mail the court a postcard once a year that gives his current address.

What the f—?

I wouldn’t even be aware of this story (the DMN doesn’t email story newsletters on weekends) if it had not been for a lady caller at the paper this evening. She wanted us to rerun this story, though we can’t because it is a DMN story and we’re a Cox paper. The next best thing is to link to it myself and hope more people see just how bad it is out there if you are a poor, black man in Texas.

Update: Vince has a link to Grits on this story.