Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Piffer Thread on Political Rantings and Ravings -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alan Smithee who wrote (6462)	1/27/2002 12:17:25 AM
From: Augustus Gloop	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14610

Deportation Fri 01-25-2002 , 5:59 pm Deportation to Afghanistan is almost inevitable now for a Madison man. A U-S immigration judge decided that Mirwais Ali was selling drugs when Madison Police stopped him back in 1998. That decision will likely send Ali back to his birthplace. An attorney for Ali says the only thing they can hope for now is a delay. The 22-year-old was born in Afghanistan, but his family moved to Wisconsin when he was one. He speaks only English, but never became a U-S citizen.

To: Alan Smithee who wrote (6462)	1/27/2002 12:43:52 PM
From: J. C. Dithers	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14610

Alan, that was a thoughtful response. It is interesting to note how uniform the opinions are here against Junta. All of the news stories portrayed this case as the ultimate example of parental violence arising out of kid's sports and whipped up a lot of emotion against the defendant. Court TV covered the case in its entirety, and I did watch most of it. I probably saw as much of the testimony as any of the less-attentive jurors did. Of course, I do not know the details of the presentencing reports that the judge was given. The sentencing guidelines for manslaughter in Massachusetts are very broad, ranging from probation to a maximum of 20 years. The judge is allowed wide latitude. The specific guidelines for involuntary focus on the defendant's prior history, breaking it down into 8 or so categories. These range from 36-40 months for someone with no prior record to 60 months for someone with an extensive record. By the language of these particular guidelines, Junta would fall in the 36-40 category, as he had no convictions. There is an automatic appeal provision (before three judges) for someone who is sentenced differently than the guidelines. The hooker is that the panel of judges also has the option of increasing the sentence, although they seldom do. It appears certain that Junta will avail himself of this provision, but very unlikely that the judge's discretion will be overturned. Junta's defense was very poor (IMO). There was never any likelihood that a self-defense theory would succeed. Junta's lawyer was very abrasive, and went much too far in pushing a "blame the victim" defense. In his sentencing remarks, the judge specifically unbraided the defense lawyer for submitting material that re-argued this point. It was very clear that the judge was annoyed. A smarter lawyer would have put on a mea culpa defense, emphasizing Junta's deep remorse, and portraying the incident as a temporary loss of self-control and judgment in the heat of a highly emotional confrontation arising out of fear for his child's safety. The lower side of the involuntary manslaughter guidelines are meant to apply to this kind of the situation, which I think could have been persuasively argued. The real question is whether justice was done in this case. My feeling is that it was not. I believe that what started as a verbal confrontation was escalated into a physical one by the victim. Blows were exchanged on both sides, any one of which could have caused the injury which proved fatal. I don't see this as a "beating," but as a "fight." Involuntary manslaughter equals "I didn't mean or want for this death to happen." The guidelines say 3 to 5 years for that. Three to five is a "doable" sentence, holding some hope that you won't lose your home, your wife, your kids, and a decent job. Six to ten removes all those hopes and turns you into a hardened convict and criminal, probably never employable again. (In Massachusetts you are definitely going to the minimum, and probably significantly more than that). We don't know the full story of either of these men, but my gut tells me that this is not a just outcome for what happened. You expressed your views most articulately, and in the end we all are left with own opinion. JC P.S. Whatever Dagwood would say, it would probably be the wrong thing. I think I'll fire him tomorrow.