Archive for August 13, 2007
We don’t need no correlation … for punishments
Aug 13th
This Courant story that I highlighted in the Jumpstart earlier today has stuck with me all day. It is a perfect example of what Windypundit and Simple Justice and I were talking about: “Free punishments”.
Consider the example in the article:
West Hartford resident Ethan Frankel thought his underage son was at a friend’s house when the 17-year-old attended a party in April where alcohol was present. His son had already left the party and was in his car with two other friends when the police arrived, said Frankel.
“He stayed there and talked to them and cooperated with the police. A lot of the kids ran away from the party, jumped out windows,” said Frankel. He said his son did not possess or drink alcohol that night, but still received a citation. “A West Hartford policeman told us to just sign the ticket and send in the money and that will be it.”
After his son paid the fine, Frankel said, a notice from the DMV arrived stating the teen’s license would be suspended. The Frankels have since hired a lawyer to look into the matter.
“It just didn’t seem fair. It’s like a trick, we felt tricked because we didn’t know that this would happen,” said Frankel, who fears his auto insurance fees will increase. “I know what they are trying to do and obviously they are looking out for people’s safety, but it needed to be thought out more.”
Lots more after the jump. Keep reading.
A tale of two cities: Hartford and Cheshire
Aug 13th
The Cheshire killings have gotten a lot of press and so today, activists in Hartford held a press conference. Undercurrents has the story and the statement:
We are here today because we are outraged, shocked and saddened by the recent deaths in our state. We grieve with the Hawke-Petit family in Cheshire as well as with the numerous families throughout the state of Connecticut who have had to deal with the senseless murders of their loved ones.
We are also here to question the disparity of value assigned to certain lives. It has been observed that murders in Hartford, where the median household income is $22,140, garner none of the fanfare that the tragedy in Cheshire, a town with a median household income of $85,664, has received.
We are sure that the horrific nature of the Cheshire home invasion contributed to the local as well as national media coverage of this tragedy. And we are sure that this tragedy hit home for many people who live in neighborhoods similar to the one that the Hawke-Petit family lived in. But we are unsure as to why murders that are just as random and senseless in our inner-cities don’t garner the same attention or outpouring of grief. Xion Davidson and Kent McLaurin were gunned down and killed less than a month ago, and their murders have been all but forgotten by the major news outlets, yet we are inundated daily with stories of how the murders in Cheshire are affecting the lives of the people of Connecticut.
Have we as a society become so far removed from each other that we can only identify and grieve over the lives of those who share our own background?
Monday Morning Jumpstart
Aug 13th
A new week, a new set of reading material:
- Justice Demands Defense: A commentary piece by Norm Pattis in yesterday’s Courant about why the Cheshire accused need zealous representation.
- Blonde Justice is saying goodbye to civil service and heading to the private sector. We wish you well, Blondie!
- Malum In Se writes about non-English speaking defendants being treated differently by both the prosecutors and his own office.
- Mark Bennett gives us six witness rules and commenters add more. I wrote about this a few months ago.
- Robert Guest criticizes MADD’s mad policies.
- The Defense Perspective continues its series on the unforeseen consequences of conviction.
- CDW has a quick look at the week that was.
- Scoplaw has a great post on what “loss of liberty” really means.
- Here’s a piece in the Courant about how the new underage drinking law has the hidden consequence of an automatic license suspension. I recently discussed the new DUI law, which has similar consequences.
Have a great day!
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