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Thread: Man released after doing 35 years, for stealing TV

  1. #1
    Iskender Bey's Avatar Civis
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    Man released after 35 years for TV theft
    Was sentenced to life in prison
    Sunday, May 29, 2005 Posted: 0217 GMT (1017 HKT)




    HILLSBOROUGH, North Carolina (AP) -- After 35 years in prison for stealing a black-and-white television set Junior Allen is a free man.

    Allen, 65, walked out of prison Friday, ending a case that attracted widespread attention, because he remained in jail while other inmates convicted of murder, rape or child molestation were released.

    "I'm glad to be out," Allen told supporters outside Orange Correctional Center. "I've done too much time for what I did. I won't be truly happy until I see a sign that says I'm outside of North Carolina."

    Allen was a 30-year-old migrant farm worker from Georgia with a criminal history that included burglaries and a violent assault when he sneaked into an unlocked house and stole a 19-inch black-and-white television worth $140.

    Some state records say Allen roughed up the 87-year-old woman who lived there, but he was not convicted of assault.

    Instead, he was sentenced in 1970 to life in prison for second-degree burglary. The penalty for the offense has since been changed to a maximum of three years in prison.

    'At least he's got some years left'
    The state Parole Commission decided last year to release Allen if he behaved and completed a transitional work-release program. He worked at a restaurant washing dishes and floors and had no prison infractions during the past three years.

    He did so well he was released several months early -- on his 26th try at parole.

    His parole could last up to five years, meaning he could gain complete freedom by age 70.

    Rich Rosen, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill law professor who took up Allen's case three years ago, said it was a shame that Allen had not been released decades ago. "At least he's got some years left," Rosen said.

    Allen did not meet with the parole commission until January 2004. Prior to that time, his record was reviewed regularly by the commission and denied.

    Rosen said the parole commission "hasn't been able to articulate a reason that Allen wasn't released."

    "He wasn't the best prisoner, (but) he wasn't the worst," Rosen said.

    Once outside the prison, Allen got into a car with two friends who were driving him to Athens, Georgia, where he planned to meet relatives and return home to Georgetown, Georgia, near the Alabama border.

    Enoch Hasberry, the programs director at Carteret Correctional Center in Newport where Allen went through work-release, said he worries Allen might not adjust well to life on the outside.

    "For a black-and-white TV, how much do you have to pay?" Hasberry said.

    "We've got an in-house joke here: How much time would he have gotten if he had stolen a color TV?"


    http://edition.cnn.com/2005/LAW/05/28/tele...l.ap/index.html
    "Good God, there is nothing more infamous than a man that is vanquished; for he must on one side accept to endure the insolence and triumph of his enemies; and on the other the fearful countenence and wrath visage of his friends."
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    This just shows how screwed the judicial system is. No death penalty for mass murderers, and life for petty larceny.
    Back to play MTW2...

  3. #3

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    WOW....the judicial system is messed up in America....ever seen the movie Boondock Saints....that's what they need.

  4. #4
    Gelatinous Cube's Avatar Ducenarius
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    Bastard deserved it. If someone stole my TV, I'd want em shot.

    (joking of course)
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    Iskender Bey's Avatar Civis
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    Yea but there is little to joke about. Because he took a TV he was given more time in prison then a murderer or rapist. I find it amazing to think that he was never even given parole all those times.
    "Good God, there is nothing more infamous than a man that is vanquished; for he must on one side accept to endure the insolence and triumph of his enemies; and on the other the fearful countenence and wrath visage of his friends."
    -- Hamza Kastrioti. After his betrayal of Spano

  6. #6
    Gelatinous Cube's Avatar Ducenarius
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    Originally posted by Iskender Bey@May 29 2005, 11:14 AM
    Yea but there is little to joke about. Because he took a TV he was given more time in prison then a murderer or rapist. I find it amazing to think that he was never even given parole all those times.
    If you ask a liberal, they'll say "It's because he was black!" They'll also say he should have gone free right away.

    If you ask a Conservative Nut-Job they'll say "He was a dangerous criminal!" but they'll be thinking "It's 'cuz he was black."

    If you ask me: "The man had a criminal history of violent and petty crime, and barely got away without an assault charge in this particular case of TV theft. That, plus the moderately racist attitude of the south (which is overrated by liberals) is what ensured his long sentance. Still, it seems a bit overboard. I'd have made it 10 years, max."
    Cube: I want a sign from god, in special godly ink, proving his existence.
    Poets: What if you have to take it on Faith?
    Cube: Bah, no deal. That's like a crack-head asking for $5 on Credit.

  7. #7
    Bovril's Avatar Primicerius
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    You'd think when they changed the maximum sentance from 35 to 3 years they'd have some sort of amnesty for the guys serving life.
    And, yeah, statistics sugest his being black really won't have helped.

  8. #8
    Invoker's Avatar Philosopher-King
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    Joy, go American Judicial System!!!

    Well, the system sucks, but its better than most, I mean in a lot places, this guy wouldn't even be alive. Still though, too many cracks to fall through on this system. I think it needs to be restructured so that certain crimes are ineligable for parole, i.e., rape, murder, child molestation...

    Also, yay for racism. (Note the sarcasm) Another reason why the system works like it does, and why punishments are, even today, rarely equally applied.

    Oh well, better than some places...
    Servant in the House of Siblesz under the Patronage of the fallen Crandar.

  9. #9

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    Modern society is idiotic, we need some great catastrophy to teach people a lesson on this. Only way people learn i guess.... this is very sad that a man will get 25 for stealing a tv, that is idiotic. Rapists get terms like that!
    Swear filters are for sites run by immature children.

  10. #10
    Iskender Bey's Avatar Civis
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    Exactly Kanaric. I mean this guy was steps away from getting the chair on a robery. His record was not clean and even so he DID commit a crime and assaulted someone, of which he was not charged for. What what happened to "The punishment should fit the crime?". The system had many opportunities to let him go but they kept him in jail on that. Pathetic and disgusting. And then people wonder why others are against the chair. It's occasions like this.
    "Good God, there is nothing more infamous than a man that is vanquished; for he must on one side accept to endure the insolence and triumph of his enemies; and on the other the fearful countenence and wrath visage of his friends."
    -- Hamza Kastrioti. After his betrayal of Spano

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    LegionnaireX's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    hmm. So that's what happened to my tv. :getlost

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    Manningham's Avatar Civitate
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    Exactly Kanaric. I mean this guy was steps away from getting the chair on a robery. His record was not clean and even so he DID commit a crime and assaulted someone, of which he was not charged for. What what happened to "The punishment should fit the crime?". The system had many opportunities to let him go but they kept him in jail on that. Pathetic and disgusting. And then people wonder why others are against the chair. It's occasions like this.
    True. In a judicial system with such flaws, its hard to make a case for the death penalty. This wasn't even a case in which the convict was later proved innocent, it was plain old abuse during the sentencing process for whatever reason.

    I was watching "Cops" late one night, yeah I watch Cops, and they put some guy who nonviolently stole a pack of cigarettes from a convenience store in jail, but guys like Ken Laye (sp?) walk free. craziness
    "It don't matter to Jesus"
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    I dont believe someone would get that long of a sentence for stealing a tv.
    Either the article is fake.

    Or: The Judicial System in my country is trully screwed up.

  14. #14
    Iskender Bey's Avatar Civis
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    Hannibal, this is a CNN article. It has happened. And yes the system does have something screwy about it if a parole board which gives murders and rapists the right to walk free has denied this man parole 26 times.

    Oh well, better than some places...
    How long will we in America be using this until we realize that most of those places have it better then us....
    "Good God, there is nothing more infamous than a man that is vanquished; for he must on one side accept to endure the insolence and triumph of his enemies; and on the other the fearful countenence and wrath visage of his friends."
    -- Hamza Kastrioti. After his betrayal of Spano

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    IronBrig4's Avatar Good Matey
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    This is yet another example of how America's judicial system is glaringly flawed. I would say that the US has a better judicial system than any South American, Latin American, Middle Eastern, African, or Caribbean nation. But that's no excuse for these errors. We're not talking about a fine here. That guy's life is gone.

    There is something wrong with a system that lets rapists off the hook after five years, but imposes mandatory 25-year minimums for cultivating marijuana.

    I do believe that the color of his skin helped to get him such a harsh sentence. No, I don't think that Southern racism of the time has been exaggerated. In fact, Virginia wouldn't allow inter-racial marriages until 1969, and only then because the US Supreme Court set them straight.

    I earned my bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice, but I'm not gonna try for a career in law enforcement. I don't want to uphold a crooked system like this. I'm going back for a master's in history.

    Under the patronage of Cpl_Hicks

  16. #16
    {nF}remix's Avatar Wii will change gaming
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    That just sucks...wow...just wow, steal a b&w tv...30 years behind bars...

    and ive stolen ****** Microwaves and Eloctrnic Pencil Sharpeners....

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    I think there is an inherit flaw in the system as it stands, the release is dependant on serving a period of time, rather than whether they will intergrate back into society.

    My personal view is that the critea of release should not be a time period, but whether they have been rehabilitated fully. This will hopefully help the convicts realise that just sitting it out and going back to their old ways until release, and probably going on to reoffend. There should be access to education courses and drug treatment so they will hopefully be able to get a decent job when they leave in order to stop them going back into living in poverty. This will also keep the hardcore pyhcopaths and other criminals who will be a persistant menance to society and they will be detained indefinantly.

    I can see a few problems such as fiscal cases probably some other exceptions, but for most this system shoiuld help.

  18. #18

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    can't believe a person jailed for 35 years for stealing a tv, 35 years ago so that is only withe and black tv :w00t

  19. #19
    Erik's Avatar Dux Limitis
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    Originally posted by Iskender Bey@May 29 2005, 11:21 AM

    "For a black-and-white TV, how much do you have to pay?" Hasberry said.

    "We've got an in-house joke here: How much time would he have gotten if he had stolen a color TV?"
    And how much would he get if the judges were colour blind?



  20. #20
    Manningham's Avatar Civitate
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    My personal view is that the critea of release should not be a time period, but whether they have been rehabilitated fully. This will hopefully help the convicts realise that just sitting it out and going back to their old ways until release, and probably going on to reoffend. There should be access to education courses and drug treatment so they will hopefully be able to get a decent job when they leave in order to stop them going back into living in poverty. This will also keep the hardcore pyhcopaths and other criminals who will be a persistant menance to society and they will be detained indefinantly.
    Yeah, the reconviction rate, or whatever its called, for released inmates is staggering at present.

    The issue of legitimate criminal rehabilitation is a huge issue that needs to be addressed, but there are just so many problems to be overcome. I think the first and biggest problem is that alternatives to prison time would probably be considered a social program, and it may be hard to get many conservative folk to be willing to fund it. Part of the reason our prisons are so full in the first place is because Reagan budget cuts slashed funding for mental institutions, and many previously non-criminally insane patients were released into the world with little guidance and have found themselves in violation of the law and ultimately in federal prison, where they will likely remain.

    Furthermore, I dont' know this for a fact, but I think alternative rehabilitation programs are generally more expensive (over the short run) than prison. And even if you can develop an effective program, in terms of cost and results, you have to convince people that it works and get them to buy into it.

    I think the next step is going to have to be prison time with some sort of meaningful responsibilities bestowed upon the inmates and further development of the educational/vocational services in prison which help condition inmates for a productive life outside the walls. In other words, what we've already got in some places, everywhere, and done bigger and better.
    "It don't matter to Jesus"
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