A Free Man for 30 Years, Fugitive Faces PrisonPosted: 4 months ago by dollyllama For the last 31 years, Charles Free has lived an ordinary life. He fell in love, married and raised two children. He spent more than 20 years in the Las Vegas construction business, working his way up to project manager. His family calls him a caring man, a model citizen. Comments: 11 Score: [-] 378 [+].
<1>Posted: 4 months ago by 2manyusernames: I do feel somewhat sorry for him, but only a little.
There are consequences to your choices in life.
He terrorized someone and robbed them while threating their live with a knife.
He escaped from prison and "found" an id. He then broke more laws getting more phony identification and a false social security number. That is probably one reason why he went in to construction. That is one of the easiest legal industries to work when your social security card may or may not stand up to muster.
His story about having to rob because he had no money for food is pure BS and is meant to bring him sympathy. The idea that his cell was going to be burned down so he had no choice to escape? Same thing. Sounds good, brings sympathy. Of course no proof and there are other options than escape.
Now because he has been able to elude the law we are supposed to say nah, you just go ahead. You don't have to pay for the crimes you committed. Should we use those same parameters for all criminals? Avoid the law long enough and all will be forgotten. Or perhaps the criteria is if you can find a wife and kids who will back you, we will absolve you of your crimes.
Or because he is old and suffers from various ailments we are supposed to let him get away with his crimes? Why?
You are responsible for your actions.
I might be more sympathetic if his crime was not such a violent one. I don't know. Yes he seems to have lived a crime-free life. He is probably guilty of a few crimes regarding his new-found social security card and there may be some tax avoiding, but nothing like he did when he was young. Of course the same could be said for many other criminals. Many people, probably a number of Plimates did things when they were young that they would never do when they are in their 60's
Yes, he seems to have rehabilitated himself and that is the goal and that is why it is difficult to say just throw his ass in jail. I have to wonder though if that means everyone who escapes doesn't get arrested for 30 years should be given clemency.
I don't know for sure how I feel about this, still as I said in another post:
Score: [-] 179 [+]. Posted: 4 months ago by thebluefrog: I feel pretty much the same way as 2many. The only thing I would add is that not only is a sentence serving time for rehabilitation, but also for punishment.
Now the question is going forward, what to do with him. I think that simply saying, "You hid long enough, you're free." would be a little too easy on him. I may go so far as to say that making him serve the remainder, and possibly more of his jail sentence would be too harsh. Score: [-] 126 [+]. Posted: 4 months ago by Alton: So you live in Florida, right 2many? So they should ship him cross country to Florida, throw him in prison, and pay his room, meals, medicine, and medical care for 6 years (or even 11), or until he dies?
How much would that cost you, the taxpayers?
I had an ex-girlfriend in Boston, that got stopped on a traffic infraction, and got arrested for a felony arson (she didn't do it, but she wasn't innocent, either), in California where she ran right before sentencing. I don't remember how many years she was facing, but California didn't want to pay to have her extradited to CA. Something about a maximum of 5 state lines to cross.
Maybe it's different for inmates that escaped. I don't know. Score: [-] 130 [+]. Posted: 4 months ago by acerogue26: There are a lot of convoluted issues here, and I'm not going to begin to get in to them.
I really just want to hear about Alton's Ex-girlfriend. I mean we need to have the whole story now! Score: [-] 37 [+]. Posted: 4 months ago by 2manyusernames:
«Alton : So you live in Florida, right 2many? So they should ship him cross country to Florida, throw him in prison, and pay his room, meals, medicine, and medical care for 6 years (or even 11), or until he dies?
How much would that cost you, the taxpayers?
I had an ex-girlfriend in Boston, that got stopped on a traffic infraction, and got arrested for a felony arson (she didn't do it, but she wasn't innocent, either), in California where she ran right before sentencing. I don't remember how many years she was facing, but California didn't want to pay to have her extradited to CA. Something about a maximum of 5 state lines to cross.
Maybe it's different for inmates that escaped. I don't know.
I agree that the expense of making him pay for his crime is way way way excessive. The extradition cost, including legal expense is a small percentage of what housing, feeding, and medical care will cost the state. The same could be said for most criminals. Heck the cost of imprisoning him if he was living in florida would be excessive as well.
Yes, that does cause me concern. However is that the precedent we set? You can commit a crime and won't face a penalty if it is deemed not cost-effective to do so? That is the proverbial slippery slope. Let's face it with the insane cost to house criminals due to incredibly over-liberal policies it is not cost-effective to jail any but the most absolute worst and dangerous offenders. Score: [-] 27 [+]. Posted: 4 months ago by Alton:
«acerogue26 : There are a lot of convoluted issues here, and I'm not going to begin to get in to them.
I really just want to hear about Alton's Ex-girlfriend. I mean we need to have the whole story now!
I didn't know it till her arrest, but she had dated a big time drug dealer, in southern California, back in her 20s. She had grown up there, been a surfer chick, the whole nine yards. I won't drop any names, but she allegedly had provided a lot of coke to a few well known bands.
At some point, her boyfriend got tired of her and I guess thinks she knows too much, so he catches their house on fire while she is asleep or passed out on the couch. She wakes up, escapes, but the police charge her for the arson cause she won't turn over her now ex-boyfriend. She follows her parents back up to Boston, and lives there for 7 years or when I start dating her.
Oh, and that's fine 2many, though I think tying the judges hands with strict guidelines for sentencing, and some of the drug laws, is what got us in this present mess to begin with. Three strikes, your out...anyone?
He's going to either die, or forget who he is in prison. He is not going to be rehabilitated. It's just stupid and expensive, just to prove a point. Score: [-] 77 [+]. Posted: 4 months ago by kissmenow: "The U.S. prison population, the world's largest, has grown nearly eightfold over the past 35 years and now costs taxpayers at least $60 billion a year." One nation, behind bars
Is there anyone left who thinks the US justice system is working? Score: [-] 59 [+]. Posted: 4 months ago by 2manyusernames: Yes, the 3-strike rule has got to be one of the most insane ideas to have come down the pipeline.
Forgetting for the moment that basing our legal code on the rule of baseball is bats**t crazy, it is unfair that someone could go to jail for life for tresspassing if it was his 3rd felony. [here in florida tresspassing on a construction site is a felony for some reason]
The biggest problem is that it tells the criminal you might as well as kill the minimum-wage clerk running the convenience store. Fewer witness means better chance to get away and killing him doesn't increase your risk of jail time.
Same goes for any 3rd felony. A rapist will realize that killing your victim is the smartest thing to do. Reduce your risk without adding any consequences.
No, it is a very bad law. Score: [-] 65 [+]. Posted: 4 months ago by dollyllama: Jail is big business. Just like GE and IBM. It's traded on the stock market, just like they are. It's a MAJOR money maker. That's not accident.
I'm not sure how I feel about this guy but I am sure how I feel about a 10th of our population in prison.
Follow the money. It always comes down to that. Score: [-] 28 [+]. Posted: 4 months ago by Alton:
«dollyllama : Jail is big business. Just like GE and IBM. It's traded on the stock market, just like they are. It's a MAJOR money maker. That's not accident.
I'm not sure how I feel about this guy but I am sure how I feel about a 10th of our population in prison.
Follow the money. It always comes down to that.
Yea, I fear that. I used to think when we paid for prisons through taxes, people would eventually get tired of the huge bill, and come to their senses.
Now that prisons are a business, I fear lobbyists for these prisons pushing lawmakers to come up with even more insane laws, just to help their bottom line. Score: [-] 32 [+]. Posted: 4 months ago by Marli: If, as we'd all like to believe, the point of prison is rehabilitation, then what can be gained from sending him back? He appears to be a model of rehabilitation- law abiding, helping others, working hard.
I don't see anything to gain, and A LOT to lose. Score: [-] 48 [+]. <1>