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CNN makes race pretty clear in this article. ETA quoted article added
Posted on 8/6/20 at 8:07 pm
Posted on 8/6/20 at 8:07 pm
CNN.com
quote:
CNN)A Black Louisiana man will spend the rest of his life in prison for stealing hedge clippers, after the Louisiana Supreme Court denied his request to have his sentence overturned last week. Fair Wayne Bryant, 62, was convicted in 1997 on one count of attempted simple burglary. In his appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Louisiana in 2018, his attorney, Peggy Sullivan, wrote that Bryant "contends that his life sentence is unconstitutionally harsh and excessive." Last week, though, the state Supreme Court disagreed -- with five justices choosing to uphold the life sentence. The lone dissenter in the decision was Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Johnson, who wrote that "the sentence imposed is excessive and disproportionate to the offense the defendant committed." Johnson is the only female and Black person on the court. The rest of the justices are White men. The sentence is sanctioned under the habitual offender law, Johnson noted in her dissent, meaning that Bryant's previous criminal history supports the sentence. Bryant was convicted in 1979 for attempted armed robbery, in 1987 for possession of stolen things, attempted forgery of a check worth $150 in 1989 and for simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling in 1992, all before his 1997 arrest for the failed attempt at stealing the hedge clippers. But Johnson also mentioned the cost associated with Bryant's sentence, writing that in his 23 years in prison, he has cost Louisiana taxpayers over $500,000. "If he lives another 20 years, Louisiana taxpayers will have paid almost one million dollars to punish Mr. Bryant for his failed effort to steal a set of hedge clippers," she wrote. Bryant's sentence is a "modern manifestation" of "pig laws," which were created in the years after Reconstruction, Johnson also said. The laws "criminalized recently emancipated African American citizens by introducing extreme sentences for petty theft associated with poverty," she wrote. "This man's life sentence for a failed attempt to steal a set of 3 hedge clippers is grossly out of proportion to the crime and serves no legitimate penal purpose," Johnson wrote. While Johnson said she would grant the appeal, five justices denied it and one abstained. Sullivan, Bryant's appellate attorney, told CNN she agrees with Johnson's dissent.
This post was edited on 8/6/20 at 8:25 pm
Posted on 8/6/20 at 8:09 pm to willeaux
I'm not giving my laptop aids by clicking that link...
Posted on 8/6/20 at 8:10 pm to willeaux
quote:
Louisiana Supreme Court upholds Black man's life sentence for stealing hedge clippers more than 20 years ago
Posted on 8/6/20 at 8:30 pm to willeaux
it wasn't the hedge clippers, it was an accumulation of everything before that also. Obviously he never learned his lesson and never will.
Posted on 8/6/20 at 8:32 pm to willeaux
quote:
Bryant was convicted in 1979 for attempted armed robbery, in 1987 for possession of stolen things, attempted forgery of a check worth $150 in 1989 and for simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling in 1992, all before his 1997 arrest for the failed attempt at stealing the hedge clippers.
So he’s not serving life “just for stealing hedge clippers”
quote:
But Johnson also mentioned the cost associated with Bryant's sentence, writing that in his 23 years in prison, he has cost Louisiana taxpayers over $500,000. "If he lives another 20 years, Louisiana taxpayers will have paid almost one million dollars to punish Mr. Bryant for his failed effort to steal a set of hedge clippers," she wrote.
This is insane but given corruption in Louisiana not surprising
Posted on 8/6/20 at 8:34 pm to willeaux
It was a set of three hedge clippers. That's three counts. If you add those to serve consecutive along with reinstating the previously suspended sentences, it's basically life.
Posted on 8/6/20 at 8:34 pm to LSUJML
The guy’s name is FAIR and yet he got shafted
Posted on 8/6/20 at 8:36 pm to LSUJML
There’s probably even more to the story, but at face value, she’s not wrong. The man shouldn’t be spending life in prison.
Posted on 8/6/20 at 8:36 pm to willeaux
Sounds like they prevented the 5 crimes he was on pace to commit over the last 20 years.
Maybe he should have stopped stealing shite?
Maybe he should have stopped stealing shite?
Posted on 8/6/20 at 8:38 pm to Xenophon
There is a reason why states have “three strikes” laws.
Having four previous convictions including armed robbery means that we aren’t missing much by this guy going to jail for life.
Having four previous convictions including armed robbery means that we aren’t missing much by this guy going to jail for life.
Posted on 8/6/20 at 8:41 pm to willeaux
quote:
CNN)A Black Louisiana man will spend the rest of his life in prison for stealing hedge clippers, after the Louisiana Supreme Court denied his request to have his sentence overturned last week. Fair Wayne Bryant, 62, was convicted in 1997 on one count of attempted simple burglary. In his appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Louisiana in 2018, his attorney, Peggy Sullivan, wrote that Bryant "contends that his life sentence is unconstitutionally harsh and excessive." Last week, though, the state Supreme Court disagreed -- with five justices choosing to uphold the life sentence. The lone dissenter in the decision was Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Johnson, who wrote that "the sentence imposed is excessive and disproportionate to the offense the defendant committed." Johnson is the only female and Black person on the court. The rest of the justices are White men. The sentence is sanctioned under the habitual offender law, Johnson noted in her dissent, meaning that Bryant's previous criminal history supports the sentence.
Just so you guys realize where CNN finally mentions habitual offender. The article makes it seem like stealing trimmers in Louisiana will get you life in prison.
7 sentences in.
This post was edited on 8/6/20 at 8:47 pm
Posted on 8/6/20 at 8:43 pm to dewster
Gotta love it. It was just hedge trimmers!!
And, uh, all the other violent and property crimes and chances and strikes and failures in life before that, but let's ignore that.
And, uh, all the other violent and property crimes and chances and strikes and failures in life before that, but let's ignore that.
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