Well, at least the prosecutor should be in favor of the guy making parole early...you know, so he can get on with working to whittle down the $1 Million restitution he's been ordered to pay?

As far as I know, the only way to deal with outrageous sentences is to figure out about when the first parole hearing will be and hope toward that date...otherwise, how keep hope alive? And of course hope to find grounds to appeal the case, (maybe on the grounds of prosecutor misconduct ? or judicial incompetence?
Ineffective assistance of legal counsel?

I heard of a guy (true story) who caught a looong sentence and right there in court before the judge and everybody, before they could take him away, he turned around and hit his defense attorney in the face. Figured that would be the only chance he's have to re-dress the injustice a little.

Seriously though, the mother came in and caught him in the act and reported ...but the prosecutor praised the little girls "for testifying and making his case?" No one asks how do the little girls feel now that he's been sentenced to 202 years? No one says how 202 years helps anyone heal...guess the $1M "restitution" is supposed to make it all better?

202 years? How ridiculous! I agree that he should have been awarded a long sentence, what he did was a revolting breach of trust. But where's the rehabilitation aspect of that sentence??

Exactly Janet! My daughter didn't agree with the sentence my husband was given, but the courts didn't care about her wants.
Phoenix, here in the US, there is no rehabilitation, it's inly retribution. But, hey you were awarded $1M, doesn't matter you will never collect on it!

Forgive my ignorance, but is that actually the principal? No rehabilitation?

I just viewed a topic on prisons in Germany on 60 minutes..now THIS is rehabilitation. A total 360 of our prisons.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-germany-prisons-crime-and-punishment/

what purpose does a 200 year sentence serve? Obviously no one can actually serve that...

Excellent read Sloan. That you for sharing.

DealRMe, the only purpose is to make sure they suffer and never have a chance at parole.!

Sloan, thanks for sharing that 60 Minutes report.

And a 200 year sentence is insane.

The court should have ordered him to pay 1 billion dollars which he can pay after release 202 years or maybe less, around 180 years give and take for good behavior and then he can start working that is if the employer does not perform a background check and hire him and then start paying for that restitution. That does make sense right? We the American Society looked up upon by other countries with the best constitution and the greatest court system. I guess it does make sense???? Right????

My son was sentenced to 180 years for CP, but he had no contact with an actual child. He also had no previous criminal record. His appeal was denied, but we have filed a Rule 37, inadequate counsel. We are praying that the judge will see that his counsel was completely inadequate and offer my son some relief. (I have only recently found out that 7 days before the trial, my son's attorney didn't even know what he was charged with!! Kinda hard to prepare a trial strategy I would think.)

So now, we're playing another waiting game. This nightmare has just been a 3 year long waiting game.

Feeling...I hear ya.
After spending a life savings on an attorney I had to take him to the State Bar after he didn't show. Then after hiring another attorney we were forced to trial even though the new attorney told the judge that he was not ready!

Only the people with no criminal history (or court experience) get screwed!

Feeling,

I left out the part that the attorney was for my son.

Californian

I'm so sorry that you and your son have had the same experience my son and I did. Guess that just like doctors, you never know if a lawyer placed first or last in his class!? I have truly lost faith in the Justice System and so many of the things I was taught as a child.

I hope that you got some satisfaction from the State Bar. What these two lawyers have done is outrageous.

Sending good thoughts and hugs your way,
Marge

Feeling,

I had never had so much as a traffic ticket, so I had never been to court except for jury duty. My son lived 12 hours away, in a small town. I had no clue as to what to do or who to hire. Inexperienced to say the least with no time to get educated.

I had been teaching "at risk" students for thirty years and decided to retire after worrying that I might be accused of "hugging" one of my students. Before this happened, I would have never, ever given it a thought.

Our son was accused of "touching" a girl who he met. She told him she was 19/20. When he found out that she was in fact 16, he refused to talk to her. In other words, he tried to do the right thing. He was arrested a year later. We were forced to trial the week before her 18th birthday. My son spent over three years in prison and will be on the public registry for life, since California registrants are ALL on for life.

Yes, what a way to find out that everything you were taught about your country was WRONG.
I NOW HATE THE COUNTRY THAT I THOUGHT I LOVED!

Just out of interest - my husband was done for having 59,000 images, 500 were the most serious category. What kind of prison term would he have got in the US?