Wednesday

Off for a day...

The trial is suspended today, which gives me a moment to bring you the most recent awful news from the sentencing front.
Weldon Angelos's Term of 55 Years was Upheld this morning.


Lisa Angelos cries after her brother is sentenced to 55 years

You will recall that Angelos was the Utah man with no criminal record who was convicted in 2003 of selling several hundred dollars worth of marijuana on three occasions and sentenced to 55 years by Judge Paul Cassell--a very conservative judge, who himself was appalled by the sentence he believed he was required to impose.

"To sentence Mr. Angelos to prison for essentially the rest of his life is unjust, cruel and even irrational," the judge said. Then Cassell did just that, while calling on President Bush to commute Angelos' sentence to one more in line with his crime. (Don't hold your breath).

In other news, the DC circuit has weighed in on Booker retroactivity (no surprise there) New Jersey and California are headed toward being states with moratoriums on the death penalty, and strange bedfellows in California (a prosecutor and a defense attorney) are trying to come together to modify the three strikes rules.

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