Free Juan Rayford Jr!

[Nbadan]

I'm sure that Dubya is gonna step up any time now and concur that Rayford's sentence, despite his apparant stupidity in the matter, was excessive and harsh...

A recent report finds that African Americans are incarcerated at nearly 6 times the rate of whites and Latinos at nearly double the rate. Five states, located in the Northeast and Midwest, incarcerate blacks at more than ten times the rate of whites. Recommended reforms include: addressing disparities through changes in drug policy, mandatory sentencing laws, reconsideration of “race neutral” policies, and changes in resource allocation.

California’s sentencing and corrections system is in crisis.

Zealous prosecutors, within a broken California sentencing system, charged Juan Rayford Jr. on or about January 3, 2004, in the county of Los Angeles, in the city of Lancaster, CA, without evidence of the possession of a gun with 1 account of shooting in an occupied dwelling, 11 accounts of attempted murder, and held him in jail on a 11 million dollar bond!

Juan's public defender didn’t put forward any evidence or call any witnesses. The prosecutor in Juan's case, as in many California cases, sought to extort a guily plea. Confident that his innocence would set him free, Juan avoided deals that would cir vent his cons utional right to a jury trial. Never having contact with the criminal justice system, Juan nor his family understood that plea bargains are often used to present defendants with a Hobson's Choice. The Hobson Choice means, either plead guilty and receive a light sentence, or insist on your right to trial by jury and receive an immensely longer sentence.

On October 25, 2004, an 18 year old, Juan Rayford Jr. was sentenced to 220 years, plus 11 life terms! Juan's sentencing clearly violates the Eighth Amendment to the United States Cons ution. His sentence is manifestly excessive, which cons utes, in effect, cruel and unusual punishment. Juan's sentence defies reason and proportionality. The Eighth Amendment forbids extreme sentences that are ‘grossly disproportionate’ to the crime and directs judges to exercise their wise judgment in assessing the proportionality of all forms of punishment.

The Eighth Amendment states: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." The Supreme Court has concluded that "a punishment is ‘excessive’ and uncons utional if it (1) makes no measurable contribution to acceptable goals of punishment and hence is nothing more than the purposeless and needless imposition of pain and suffering; or (2) is grossly out of proportion to the severity of the crime."

Compare Juan's 220 years, plus 11 life terms to I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's 30-month prison term recently commuted by President Bush giving the reason that Libby was given "a harsh sentence."

After the Libby commute, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said the president had "abandoned all sense of fairness when it comes to justice" and she said "the president's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence is a betrayal of trust of the American people."

Free Juan Rayford

220 years plus 11 life terms for simply being at a fight where someone pulled a gun...defense attorneys said neither Glass nor Rayford had a gun nor did they do any shooting.

[Oh, Gee!!]

wouldn't that be the governator's domain?

[Nbadan]

I believe those are Federal sentencing guidlines, but 220 years and 11 life terms is beyond reason....his only alternative was to make a Hobson's choice and plead guilty...there are clear 8th amendment issues here....but the even larger issue is the California judicial and sentencing guidline procedures, which are under the toolage of the the terminator...