See, this is my blog, and since I've already declared it mostly bunk to begin with - why not use sensationalist headlines while I'm it! (Also I get to creatively use spelling and grammar mistakes to boot - tke that grammaR nazis).
So where does this headline come from? The $5 million dollar bail set for a network administrator who has already spent 14 months in jail for a crime that isn't entirely clear he committed. Now I won't pretend to know if the guy is innocent or not - I don't have all the facts, but what I do know is that the bail here is completely out of synch. Stealing a link from Slashdot (it's ok - they steal links all the time right :) ) we see the following standards set out by the California court system
667.51 (a) * # 288 PC with one prior sex offense - for each prior listed 1,000,000
667.6 (a) * # Prior forcible sex ofense 1,000,000
667.61 # Prior sex offense 1,000,000
667.7 # Habitual criminal with great bodily injury 1,000,000
667.8 * # Kidnapping for sex offense 500,000
667.85* Kidnapping of a child under age 14 300,000
667.9 * # Serious felony on victim disabled, under 14 or over 65 100,000
http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/courts/bail_schedule.pdf
So basically - the court is saying that a network admin who won't part with his password without authorization is greater danger to the public than a child molester by about a factor of 10. That's right ladies and gentlemen, in California they don't warn their kids about strange men in white vans, rather they speak softly and say:
"See that guy with the laptop in Starbucks over there - watch out for him Junior - he'll do horrible things to you with his greasy socialist linux system. If he comes near you - run to the white van driven by the creepy looking guy who follows the girls to school each day ... it'll be better for you."
Damn - I had more to rant about, but I'm out of time and need to get to work - so the basic thought for the day is exactly how well is this freedom thing working out for us if merely being disobedient to a government official is enough for 14 months of jail time and a $5million dollar bail without a trail?
I for one, do no welcome our Big Brother wanna be overlords.
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This is why there needs to be some sort of oversight of the judges.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of many ridiculous or inconsistent decisions/verdicts/sentences handed down by judges. And there isn't a damn thing to be done about it. Sure you can appeal.. but there are no consequences to the judge to ensure it doesn't happen again.
See Gene, you're not the only one who can rant
That wasn't a rant ... it was a thoughtful and non-ranty comment :)
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