Comments for CONVICTed at http://www.theind.com , comment 1 to 15 out of 15 comments http://www.theind.com Sun, 19 May 2013 19:49:31 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20281 Besides, didn't y'all ever watch The Wire? - Jason D. Faulk Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:25:28 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20280 Very good, thanks for this piece. Just returning to town and catching up. At the very minimum, the "spoils of war" should be distributed to repay debt, fund health and human services and education and/or capital outlay construction, more parks, etc. Funding for police work should be independently and sufficiently allocated from general revenues based on need. The story of Scott Police years ago trapping the southeast asian fisher-family on I-10 and linking the surprising amounts of cash to drug activity erroneously comes to mind, as do the near-endless accounts of grandmothers losing their homes or cars because of the Crack-House Law or the R.A.V.E. acts. The entire "fee-for-service" mentality should not have a place in a wealthy and socially just society, yet we take this personal responsibility mantra to an excessive height, which somehow results in this madness and competitive struggle for money and prestige. On the bigger question of where our society is going, I would concur that all of this bodes ill for our future. We have as a country, indulged baser instincts in public life over the past 30-40 years, now resulting in the wave of privatision of the commons of all our public goods (water, land, retirement funds, the military, cities themselves, rights of the worker and the rights of nature itself). Having identified the obvious, I hope Louisiana would have a change of heart and follow the light of social justice found within our spiritual traditions and chart a path away from this course. Doing so will require active participation by our citizens. Whether one is on the public dole or the private purse, we're all interconnected, as such the most ridiculous of ad-hominem attacks on the integrity of one group of citizens in order to invalidate their opinion need to stop. We should engage in constructive dialogue and actually start meeting face to face in our communities. I will certainly strive to hold myself to that standard. Failure to get together will mean that the merchants of doom will win, we will become less equal, less fair and a more impoverished society ruled by wealthy elites with a great underclass. Who wants that? - Jason D. Faulk Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:24:09 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20241 You must have honest people to administer justice. Sifting through political appointees to find them isn't foolproof. - rambeaux rawlings Tue, 26 Jul 2011 23:04:16 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20130 And if this don't work we can always upload a bunch a child porn to your computer then come bust you and put you away for a really long time. Really don't even have to upload it ..alls we got to do is say we found it, put you picture in the paper and put you away so you won't never see daylight again. slam bam. And when you go down it may be just to prove to someone else what can happen to them. Have they checked all the boat landings for sunk cars yet? - shake em down Sat, 23 Jul 2011 21:17:21 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20075 prohibition is a crime against humanity? on par with torture? LOL - ragin_cajun Thu, 21 Jul 2011 07:31:55 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20073 At this late date its impossible to believe that our government would carry out a war against their most profitable import product... - NORTHSIDIAN SHOTGUN Wed, 20 Jul 2011 20:23:02 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20064 * In 'the land formally known as free', all citizens have now been stripped of their 4th amendment rights and have become totally subordinate to a corporatized, despotic government with a heavily armed and corrupt, militarized police force whose often deadly intrusions into their homes and lives are condoned by an equally corrupt, spineless and reprobate judiciary. * In a Police State there is No Personal Privacy, Scarce Personal Freedom, Hardly Any Personal Justice and An Ever Diminishing Amount Of Personal Wealth. * As with torture, prohibition is a grievous crime against humanity. If you support it, or even simply tolerate it by looking the other way while others commit it, you are an accessory to a very serious moral transgression against humanity. - malcolm.kyle@gmail.com Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:20:19 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20062 This is so discouraging. Why federal attorneys exhaust themselves putting innocent people through hell while real criminals sometimes literally get away with murder is beyond me. Thank you to The Ind and Heather Miller for yet another enlightening report. - eiswright Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:51:27 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20061 A good case for the legalization of drugs. - William Morvant Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:22:50 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20060 Jennifer McKnight also works for Cynthia Simon of the District Attorney's office. It's all in who you know and the lawyer you get. Lawyer up people, lawyer up. Unfortunately the federal justice system has a reputation for being a bully, especially amongst law professionals. Grayson probably has a better track record than most which is scary. - JDough Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:21:21 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20045 great article. very much along the lines of the work done by Radley Balko, formerly of reason, now at HuffPo, and his own website www.theagitator.com you may want to send it to him. - bwallace Wed, 20 Jul 2011 10:26:09 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20043 This makes me incredibly sad. Good people going to jail (or court) over lies and the "War on Drugs" that has been an absolute failure. As long as we continue to fight drug use on the supply side it will be a loosing battle that only creates a highly profitable and dangerous black market. These people are innocent victims caught in the crossfire, of overzealous prosecution. - T Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:34:58 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20042 Good story. The war on drugs = the war on terror. Someone always needs a war to generate revenue and scare the sheeple into giving up their money and rights. - Not Surprised Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:01:22 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20034 Wow!! Criminals rewarded for "testilying"?! Great article!! Long enough to cover serious matters. but really, J. Melancon: this drug conspiracy in a little bitty house in Church Point, Louisiana, there were $4 million worth of drugs going through there,” That is the "old school" way!! It works in Lafayette!!! Call no attention to yourself and don't show off the money locally. duhhh - realitycheck Wed, 20 Jul 2011 08:02:32 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8688-convicted#comment-20030 Who says we do not live in a police state? This is very frightening indeed. The really frightening part is that this can happen to anyone, anytime, for any reason, any place in America today. - Be very afraid. Wed, 20 Jul 2011 07:04:02 +0100