Comments on: Homeless Man Steals a $100 Bill From Bank, Turns Himself in the Next Day and Apologizes — and Is Given 15 Years By Louisiana Judge http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/ Res ipsa loquitur ("The thing itself speaks") Mon, 28 May 2012 11:57:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Skeptic1 http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-279886 Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:40:24 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-279886 The Judge under Louisiana State Law (first degree robbery, which is what Mr. Brown Pled guilty to) could not sentence him for less than 3, or more than 40. Throw in any priors that Mr. Brown may have had and you can see where the Judge made his decision.

How about an article on Mr. Brown that shows the whole truth instead of perpetuating the internet sensationalism that is taking place.

]]> By: Thanai Salway http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-279721 Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:23:41 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-279721 Its just awful ! I read all these comments, and EVERYONE except for one, disagrees with whats happening in our society today. There’s always one. Jimmy Jon, you could be next, walking down the street and get wrongly CONVICTED for just stepping on gum, and sentenced to 20yrs. Injustice is Injustice, lets not sugar coat it! Its unfair in this case, and thats what it is! Shame on this judge for doing that to this poor man.

]]> By: Otteray Scribe http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-275669 Sat, 08 Oct 2011 03:21:08 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-275669 Jimmy Jon, did you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?

]]> By: Jimmy Jon http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-275664 Sat, 08 Oct 2011 03:00:57 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-275664 Who knows what this guy has been in jail for so far… its not racism Mike Spindell, he’s a law breaker. Probably multiple offenses considering he is trying to stay on detox. I dont feel bad for this guy. He broke the law multiple times and I am personally glad he’s not going to be mugging me for the next 15 years. This would be a completely different story if all the facts were in the article. Just my 2 cents

]]> By: Justice in America #occupywallstreet | Unsettled Christianity http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-275622 Sat, 08 Oct 2011 00:02:10 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-275622 [...] True story. Paul R. Allen was convicted of a $3 Billion dollar fraud. Roy Brown, a homeless guy who had the chance to take thousands, took $100 and then turned himself in. [...]

]]> By: Ed http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-275557 Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:08:46 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-275557 The difference is that the judge has to follow the letter of the law and (I hope) felt bad about having to hand down the sentence. It’s been four years now and I hope he has come up for parole with a lawyer who knows what he is doing.

]]> By: InsaneJudge http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-269787 Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:29:04 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-269787 this judge is just insaneee!! this guy surely doesnt deserve 15years punishment…he didnt even took a single penny…he return it all, he’s not supposed to be in jail at all…just 1month of public service will do!

]]> By: Garanddad http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-244585 Sun, 03 Jul 2011 23:18:06 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-244585 Do not lose sight of the entire picture. His pretense (or supposed pretense) of having a weapon makes this armed robbery – even had he not left the bank with even a dime. That requires punishment under the law. However, jails are for two things, really – incarceration and/or rehabilitation. Rehabilitation in this case had already been initiated by the defendant. The judge (and yes, in this case, no capitolization – he does not deserve it) has ignored what justice is for. The gentleman in question should have done time – say 6 months – and then assisted in starting anew – spend one year of incarceration money on getting him off the street and to work. He is obviously worth the effort. The judge simply deserves our contempt and, perhaps, a kick to the groin.

]]> By: bev http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-244511 Sun, 03 Jul 2011 17:48:59 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-244511 This is fucking ridiculous. My ex dealt an ounce of cocaine to an undercover (with attempted bank robbery and car theft already on his record) and got four years. This man does not even deserve that. The justice system has really gone to shit.

]]> By: ricotomo http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-243518 Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:40:05 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-243518 http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_46132602074
join the facebook support group for roy brown

]]> By: trendon http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-174579 Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:39:35 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-174579 I can understand judges want to provide welfare to homeless by sending them to jail but honestly they should first make sure the homeless person does really want to go to jail.

]]> By: Barak http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-113562 Sun, 21 Feb 2010 06:40:40 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-113562 He held up a teller with a hand in his pocket. She gave him a stack of 100s. He took the top one and gave the rest back immediately. The last $100 he gave back the next day.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/265402

]]> By: . http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-89381 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:21:55 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-89381 How did he walk into a bank and steal $100. Was it a robbery or was $100 just lying around?

]]> By: Mike Appleton http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-37059 Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:38:34 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-37059 Mike Spindell is spot on. Racism, pure and simple, in the old tradition of southern rural justice. It has a two-fold purpose; it exacts punishment for the offense against the white power structure and reinforces the social and legal inferiority of black people. I suspect that the judge is Louisiana born and educated and prides himself on the enlightened manner in which he treats “our negroes.”

]]> By: Mike Spindell http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-36713 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:35:05 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-36713 Racism….end of story. Old as I get I’ll never understand the stupidity of a judge like that in that even some racists must have a sense of shame. Sadly in life many don’t reap what they sow, but perhaps in this case this judge’s karma will pay him back. Fat chance.

]]> By: Jericho http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-36681 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:17:25 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-36681 This judge is mental…

]]> By: BRON98 http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-36677 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:47:48 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-36677 the judge was most likely a southern democrat in the Bull Conner model.

]]> By: DOMINO http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-36651 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:13:21 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-36651 Argh!

]]> By: Vir Gules http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-36641 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:53:06 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-36641 As Anatole France wrote more than a hundred years’ ago, “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.”
Anatole France, The Red Lily, 1894, chapter 7

]]> By: Jill http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-36638 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:26:30 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-36638 This is an outrage. Glenn Greenwald makes an excellent comparison between this crime (and others) and how cheneybush crimes are treated:

“Under all circumstances, arguing that high political officials should be immunized from prosecution when they commit felonies such as illegal eavesdropping and torture would be both destructive and wrong [not to mention, in the case of the latter crimes, a clear violation of a treaty which the U.S. (under Ronald Reagan) signed and thereafter ratified]. But what makes it so much worse, so much more corrupted, is the fact that this “ignore-the-past-and-forget-retribution” rationale is invoked by our media elites only for a tiny, special class of people — our political leaders — while the exact opposite rationale (“ignore their lame excuses, lock them up and throw away the key”) is applied to everyone else. That, by definition, is what a “two-tiered system of justice” means and that, more than anything else, is what characterizes (and sustains) deeply corrupt political systems. That’s the two-tiered system which, for obvious reasons, our political and media elites are now vehemently arguing must be preserved.”

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/

]]> By: Buddha Is Laughing http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-36623 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:06:30 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-36623 mespo,

Add me to that list. The life I left was in Louisiana. The worst scumbags in the profession I know hale from Louisiana with one notable Dallas exception that comes to mind. Louisiana is every bit as bad as Texas, in some ways worse. And I can almost guarantee race was a factor. Racism is the state sport even more popular than bass fishing or duck hunting.

]]> By: Vince Treacy http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-36620 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:55:39 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-36620 “Another reason for pride, that of being a citizen! For the poor citizenship consists of supporting and sustaining the power and idleness of the rich. They must work for those goals before the majestic equality of the laws, which forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets and to steal bread.”

Anatole France

]]> By: mespo727272 http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-36618 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:50:17 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-36618 I like to believe that in the afterlife corrupt or heartless judges get to serve the punishment they wrongly visit on others. Just makes me fell good, and if others can believe in a talking snake, I can hold to this fantasy. In the meantime, this man needs to be released and now. JT’s experience in LA is consistent with many attorneys I have spoken to about their practice there. I also suspect there is a racial component to this sentence.

]]> By: rafflaw http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-36613 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:59:15 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-36613 Are we sure that this didn’t happen in Texas? It sounds like Texas style justice to me.

]]> By: Buddha Is Laughing http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-36611 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:43:11 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-36611 And people wonder why respect for the justice system is in decline. You reap what you sew.

]]> By: Sally http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-36609 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:39:42 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-36609 That’s a shame. Yes it was wrong for him to steal, but 15 yrs is excessive.

The only positive thing for this man is that now he has food and shelter.

I wonder if this judge will get re-elected if he hands out such sentences.

]]> By: Yankee http://jonathanturley.org/2009/01/28/homeless-man-steals-a-100-bill-from-bank-turns-himself-in-the-next-day-and-apologizes-and-is-given-15-years-by-louisiana-judge/#comment-36603 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:19:12 +0000 http://jonathanturley.org/?p=7574#comment-36603 It’s like Les Miserable! At lease Valijean only got 5 years for stealing bread.

The only thing this “judge” has taught the defendant and anyone witnessing this is that honesty and redemption mean nothing. If there’s a next time he’ll steal more and run like hell.

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