Six Months in Jail for stealing food from a dumpster

[90Xjay]

Now they have to pay for it.

Six months in jail?

I just wanted to point out how much effort was being put into sending these guys up the river for 6 months, at a cost of about $15,000 per person for the jail cost alone, for this "crime" when people who have caused injury and physical harm and or violent criminals have gotten away with much less.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Either way, they broke the law.

theft

Don't know about the laws in MD, or in CO, for that matter, but here in the Wheat State, it's not a crime to take garbage out of a dumpster. Pretty much as soon as you throw something away, it's considered fair game and you have very little legal right to reclaim it.

And I believe you're missing the point 90 and others (myself included) have tried to make:

1: Is trespassing and taking rotten fruit really worth 6 months in jail?
2: Why does a misdemeanor carry a longer sentence than a felony?

Sure, I think they should be fined for the trespassing, but 6 months in jail? No way!

 

[dropseys]

Gotta remember one thing, DA's prosecute, judges make the ultimate decision on punishment. Da's can recommend punishment, but its all up to the judge, who is an appointed official by our politicians. Call your politicians and complain. Judges won't be wasting time and money on people like this. In our town I locked a woman up an 19 yo girl for stealing gas. The judge made her pay the gas money back to the station and her punishment besides a record, was to walk outside the gas station on RT 13 for 3 hours wearing a board sign that said, "I got caught stealing gas". It was advertised in the papers, on tv and the radio. Let me just tell you, the place was packed and i have never seen som much traffic on rt 13 at that time before in my life. I think the public humiliation was the best punishment ever. I did laugh when people complained about it being inhumane etc etc. I wrote to the paper and pointed out she could easily have been sentenced to a year in jail. I think she would rather wear the sign. One of our best judges ever i need to add. Pretty much if the officers know their stuff and detail everything very well, look out bad guys. He can tell when someone has pushed a charge a lil far. ANd he doesn't take poeple coming into court in crappy street clothes either. Ahhh a man after my own heart. If you are facing jail time, do you walk in to court chewing gum, wearing a baseball hat, ripped pants with streamers (yes streamers haave seen them) and a shirt that says Screw the world on it? Yeah for Judge Simpson.

 

[dropseys]

August 2nd, 2004: "Maryland woman who stole fuel ordered to stand outside gas station wearing sign" Full Story
"SALISBURY, Maryland - A woman who stole $4.52 worth of fuel was ordered to stand outside the gas station wearing a sandwich board sign that declared: "I was caught stealing gas." Sherelle Purnell obeyed the court order, although by the time she arrived 90 minutes late to her noon Friday sentence, the crowd of people that gathered to watch her had dispersed. "There were parents who came with their children, wanting to teach them a lesson," said Jan Phipps, manager of Gordy's Tiger Mart, which pushed for the unorthodox punishment. Purnell, 18, who was caught on surveillance tape speeding away from the gas pump, walked along the convenience shop's grassy storefront as passing drivers honked horns and made catcalls."

http://www.gastheft.com/

Sad part was the store owner didn't want to call the judge to report that she was 90 mintues late. I was ****ed. She would have been sent to jail for the full 18 months for her blatant protest of her punishment. HEr mother says it was a racial issue. I think she should really think about the time in jail her daughter could have gotten.

 

[judge09]

"HEr mother says it was a racial issue. "

What??? Come on now. Your daughter gets caught stealing and thats what you have to say. Some people...

 

[dropseys]

yeah sad huh. What about responsibilty for being a crook? I guess she thinks her daughters innocent, even though she plead guilty and was caught on DVD video. She even went inside to ask for phillies blunts, , but after asking for the price she refused to buy them and left the store. She wasn't even go to answer the door for me until i yelled into the house that I was going to impound the vehicle used in the crime and she would be paying the bill. And to top this off, they came an supported her. WTF? Support our criminal daughter. I found another article where her family was all there and she kept going inside asking if she could stop because she had asthma and couldn't walk anymore. She didn't have her medicine. But none of her family would walk next door, literally, to the house and get it for her. While she is saying this, she goes back outside and smokes a cigarette. I think she should have been reported to the judge and he would have sent her to jail. The store manager was way too nice. Even gave the girl cold water and a chair so she could sit in the shade. The store manager even called the girl at home when she didn't show up at the scheduled time and asked what was going on. The girl said she didn't know it was on that date and she would be in in a little while. 30 minutes later anyhow. ANd she lived about 2 minutes walking distance. Sad, sad, sad.

 

[90Xjay]

yeah sad huh. What about responsibilty for being a crook? I guess she thinks her daughters innocent, even though she plead guilty and was caught on DVD video. She even went inside to ask for phillies blunts, , but after asking for the price she refused to buy them and left the store. She wasn't even go to answer the door for me until i yelled into the house that I was going to impound the vehicle used in the crime and she would be paying the bill. And to top this off, they came an supported her. WTF? Support our criminal daughter. I found another article where her family was all there and she kept going inside asking if she could stop because she had asthma and couldn't walk anymore. She didn't have her medicine. But none of her family would walk next door, literally, to the house and get it for her. While she is saying this, she goes back outside and smokes a cigarette. I think she should have been reported to the judge and he would have sent her to jail. The store manager was way too nice. Even gave the girl cold water and a chair so she could sit in the shade. The store manager even called the girl at home when she didn't show up at the scheduled time and asked what was going on. The girl said she didn't know it was on that date and she would be in in a little while. 30 minutes later anyhow. ANd she lived about 2 minutes walking distance. Sad, sad, sad.

That is deterrence.

 

[TwistedCU]

Don't know about the laws in MD, or in CO, for that matter, but here in the Wheat State, it's not a crime to take garbage out of a dumpster.

In MD dumpster diving is illegal, as is going throught someones garbage cans.

Unless there is a sign indicating "free" it is illegal.

So is tresspassing.

 

[Snitty]

Illegal, yes. But worth 6 months in jail? Certainly not. The people were taking something that the previous owner no longer wanted. Forgetting about statutory policy, the bottom line material issue is that the previous owner no longer wanted the item(s) that were taken. In fact, the intent of the previous owner was for someone to take the item(s) away. The company that was going to (legally) take the item(s) would have gotten rid of them as well.

Yes, there are "laws" that say it is wrong. However, it certainly was not something that classifies a person as a danger worth imprisoning for 6 months.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

I did some checking here in the great Sunflower State, and a lot of businesses like that give their over-ripe stuff to local farmers, especially hog farmers. The hog farmers use it to feed their hogs. The businesses are glad to get rid of it for free, because they are charged by the ton for the trash to be hauled off to the landfill. It saves them money, and it saves the farmers money.

 

[TwistedCU]

Would I, if I were a judge, have given them anything more than a warning or short probabtion?

I probably would have simply dismissed the charges.

What I have been getting at is although the punishment was extreme, it was within the limits of the law. What most people are asking is WHY?

I said before that it must go deeper. I googled this "rainbow family gathering" and it appears the area is tired of their gatherings....
http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/mbr/news/2006/rainbow.shtml

They have been meeting there for years, but their organization has no real leadership, so it is usually disorganized and probably attracts many folks who just want to go and party for a weekend.

My guess is everytime this event happens,there are problems with the crowd it brings. These folks are probably tired of it and the 2 guys who were arrested paid the price. If I had an event like that in my area, and it brought freeloading drug abusing degenerates to my property I'd want "examples" made too.

Now if these folks are truly peaceful and law abiding that's another story. My guess is my hunch is dead-on and the locals are sick of these people.

I am sure that if you look at the number of additional police needed you will see that this event hasn't had a history of being incident free.

 

[dropseys]

probably not. I am sure that a bunch of these people probably get stoned and drive around doing stupid crap thinking "whooooa that was cool", and it ****es off the towns folk, Judges included. They were probably used as a sign that the town is not going to take crap from this group any more. I have seen that happen before here for first offender gang bangers. Thye send them up for 10 years on felony drug charge. Not that it deters anyone here.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Would I, if I were a judge, have given them anything more than a warning or short probabtion?

I probably would have simply dismissed the charges.

What I have been getting at is although the punishment was extreme, it was within the limits of the law. What most people are asking is WHY?

I said before that it must go deeper. I googled this "rainbow family gathering" and it appears the area is tired of their gatherings....
http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/mbr/news/2006/rainbow.shtml

They have been meeting there for years, but their organization has no real leadership, so it is usually disorganized and probably attracts many folks who just want to go and party for a weekend.

My guess is everytime this event happens,there are problems with the crowd it brings. These folks are probably tired of it and the 2 guys who were arrested paid the price. If I had an event like that in my area, and it brought freeloading drug abusing degenerates to my property I'd want "examples" made too.

Now if these folks are truly peaceful and law abiding that's another story. My guess is my hunch is dead-on and the locals are sick of these people.

I am sure that if you look at the number of additional police needed you will see that this event hasn't had a history of being incident free.

Well, that's rather discriminatory. Just as bad as racial profiling, IMHO. Just because these guys were on their way to something that may or may not have a bad rep (and probably does), then they get a more severe punishment than someone who was on their way through to a Revival Meeting at the local Baptist Church? Last I checked, guilt by association was the same as discrimination. I'm not condoning illicit behavior, not am I condoning these two guys' actions that led to their arrest. However, if they had no prior convictions, had no drugs or drug paraphernalia on them, were sober and compliant with the officers' demands, but were treated differently just because of the place they were going, then that is discrimination, plain and simple.

 

[dropseys]

Trust me, i'm not saying they were rightfully sentenced, but that is what i think got them 6 months. Unless for all we know the judges there could just be hard on everyone. Newspapers don't print alot. And it could have been that the group raised such a stink that the story was printed. It also doesn't say if they were compliant with the officer or not. Demeanor makes a world of difference at sentencing time. Here in traffic court our judges are fairly lenient which i could care less about. But last thing they ask before deciding on the future of someones insurance rates is, "did this person give you any problems?" Let me just tell ya, in MD we have the entire back of our ticket for notes to write down things. I have been able to read some very long quotes to him and have made some people look like terd murphys in court. Thats what could have happened too. There are way too mnay variables that weren't covered in the story.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Trust me, i'm not saying they were rightfully sentenced, but that is what i think got them 6 months. Unless for all we know the judges there could just be hard on everyone. Newspapers don't print alot. And it could have been that the group raised such a stink that the story was printed. It also doesn't say if they were compliant with the officer or not. Demeanor makes a world of difference at sentencing time. Here in traffic court our judges are fairly lenient which i could care less about. But last thing they ask before deciding on the future of someones insurance rates is, "did this person give you any problems?" Let me just tell ya, in MD we have the entire back of our ticket for notes to write down things. I have been able to read some very long quotes to him and have made some people look like terd murphys in court. Thats what could have happened too. There are way too mnay variables that weren't covered in the story.

I know this is getting further off topic, but do you have recorders in your vehicles that capture the conversation between you and the driver? Do you have dash cams? Wichita PD is trying to get dash cams in their cars, but have had recording devices for years, as have our State Troopers and Sheriff's Deputies. One local news station played excerpts from some of the dash cam/recorders recently while doing a story on dash cams, as well as showing what the drivers said in court. It's hilarious when they come in saying, "That cop abused me verbally, and was very rude, and made sexual advances to me!", then the video shows a normal traffic stop, both the driver and officer being polite, and even cordial. I'm a huge proponent of dash cams, or at the very least, recording devices.

 

[dropseys]

Me too, but our PD had some and because they were not taken care of they trashed em. I was trying to get it for years we get them and because the city is cheap when it comes to us we get nothing to replace what we had. Dash Cams save good cops. I see it way too many times.

 

[TwistedCU]

Just as bad as racial profiling, IMHO.

Profiling, a useful, time tested, and proven tool in policework, is the attempt to target likely suspects by narrowing them down. This could involve anything and everything about a person from if they are wearing a hat to what sex they are... depending on the circumstances. Racial profiling is part of that. If you have problems with Hispanic gang violence you are not going to stop an old white lady as a suspected gang-banger, are you?

If this "gathering" has been plaguing this community for years, who could blame them for wanting to get them to either straighten their act up or relocate by enforcing the law to it's fullest extent?

It's easy to say they were harsh when it's not your community.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Me too, but our PD had some and because they were not taken care of they trashed em. I was trying to get it for years we get them and because the city is cheap when it comes to us we get nothing to replace what we had. Dash Cams save good cops. I see it way too many times.

There's currently a community coalition in Wichita trying to raise money for dash cams for the WPD, because that city is also faced with budgetary incontinence. I haven't witnessed it first hand, but yeah, I know how dash cams can save a good cop's reputation and job. Plus, they make for some really cool videos on "Cops"!:lol:

 

[dropseys]

heck yeah.