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How does this work? If you're rich you get to refuse to show up to prison? I never realized that just choosing not to show up was an option. Seems kind of st
by msandford 3y ago
How does this work? If you're rich you get to refuse to show up to prison? I never realized that just choosing not to show up was an option.
Seems kind of strange that she could (presumably) be in court and sentenced and not immediately taken away to start her time.
- JustSomeNobody 3y agoPretty sure if I tried the same thing, the PD would kick my front door in and take me.
- paulcole 3y agoYou think if you were on bail and appealing your case and are allowed to remain out on bail while appealing your case the police would kick in your door?
- akiselev 3y agoIt's a joke even if she does report and serve. > Holmes, 39, was expected to serve her time in at a minimum-security prison camp in Houston, Texas. Minimum security prisons are the kind where you can leave during the day to go to work! None of that slave labor shit making license plates or filling in at McDonalds, either, like actually go to a regular job and earn money. They're called "Club Fed" for a reason. I thought anyone with over a decade of prison time wouldn't be eligible for such white glove treatment but nope. "Rules for thee but not for me" when you've got Kissinger on board
- ddoolin 3y agoThis isn't something exclusive to wealthy individuals. Many first-time, non-violent offenders in many states are afforded this type of prison-camp setup. I suppose it is kind of odd for such a long sentence (although just divide by half for the probable realistic sentence) but I don't think the arrangement itself is at all unusual. If at least half of the goal of jail/prison is rehabilitation, it makes sense to me. EDIT: Apparently the feds have an 85% time served rate so it actually will be closer to a decade served.
- smnrchrds 3y agoAnd on the other end, we have people who get treated like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalief_Browder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalief_Browder
- typon 3y agoWhite woman vs. Black guy treatment. We shouldn't gloss over that.
- edgyquant 3y ago[flagged]
- bmitc 3y agoJesus. That was harrowing. I just cannot even imagine the hopelessness that he felt. It is pure cosmic horror. This just makes me so angry. The amount of corruption, racism, and incompetence for this to happen is staggering and quite honestly incomprehensible. A, what appears to be non-U.S. citizen, person makes a bogus accusation against two black men who are U.S. citizens. The accusation has no consistency or accuracy, and not a single shred of evidence was ever presented. And the accusation was theft of a backpack. So the mere word of a foreigner sentences a man to prison for over three years, with no case brought to court, and several judges offering plea bargains. How did they even justify the plea bargains? "Oh, you're in prison for no reason so here's a plea bargain for random crimes we've made up?" If the district attorney's office is so busy, why does someone need to stay in prison for that? Like, you're supposably busy, but he has to stay in prison because you're busy? Every single one of those judges, district attorneys, police officers, correctional officers, and prison administration should face penalties. Edit: And it turns out that that place is not even a prison. It's a holding facility for people who are awaiting trials and other court actions, i.e., innocent people.
- HarryHirsch 3y agoAnd now you know why the right to a speedy trial was written into the constitution. Not that anyone consults it much, these days.
- gnicholas 3y agoIs she going to be allowed to leave once she reports? I hadn’t heard this, just that it’s minimum security.
- mikeyouse 3y agoOf course not, there's this pervasive and unfounded belief that Holmes somehow is going to get out of punishment for her crimes -- she's going to Federal prison for a decade. Best case scenario is she gets out after a bit over 9 years given the 85% minimum sentence in Federal prison. She's a nonviolent offender convicted of financial crimes, of course she's going to a low security facility.
- busterarm 3y agoNo, we already know she's going to a camp/minimum, which is significantly less punitive than a low. They're work program oriented, structured like dormitories and have no fencing. You leave every day to do work program then come back to the facility to sleep. A low security federal prison pretty much meets your expectations of what a prison is minus the gang activity. Do yourself a favor and google image search for "FPC Bryan" if you want an idea of what her stay will look like.
- no_wizard 3y agoI'm not a fan of US prisons, or the US prison system, honestly, our criminal justice system needs a major overhaul top to bottom With that said, my favorite is the pay per day way to serve your sentence under house arrest[0]. Often used by the wealthy to avoid going to jail at all, even for serious "white collar" crimes Or the fact you pay to stay in "fancy jail"[1] [0]: https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/defense/process/sentencing/house-arrest/ https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/defense/process/sentencing/hous... [1]: https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-pay-to-stay-jails/?wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1 https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-pay-to-stay-jails/?wp...
- ddoolin 3y agoAs a fun anecdote, I was sentenced to house arrest during COVID (after serving a short county jail sentence) and all of the fees were actually waived, by order of the governor, due to COVID IIRC. My experience is that this is seldom granted on request barring extenuating circumstances i.e. COVID, jail capacity, etc, and your convictions needs to be strictly non-violent otherwise. That said, at least in California the jails and prisons are very overcrowded leading to many unqualified individuals being offered house arrest after serving short stints in custody.
- moralestapia 3y ago>[1]: https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-pay-to-stay-jails/?wp https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-pay-to-stay-jails/?wp... Wow, it really feels like everything has been productized already.
- monero-xmr 3y agoNo matter what anyone says, you do not want to go to prison in the USA. It’s dirty, the food sucks, no AC / poor heating / poor ventilation, you are told what to do and have to do it. You won’t get raped but you will be frequently naked in front of strangers. The bed is a cot and if you have a bad back it will be awful. The room will stink of shit as everyone is shitting 5 feet from each other. The societal stain is bad for your reputation. You do not want to go to prison.
- derwiki 3y agoI think that's supposed to be the incentive to not partake in illegal activities, e.g. defrauding your investors.
- monero-xmr 3y agoAll these soft people on HN complaining the sentence isn’t harsh enough or the “prison camp is a joke”. Prison sucks and she will not have a fun time.
- root_axis 3y agoThe response is due to the inequity with respect to the vast majority of prisoners, many of which will be raped and subject to slave labor conditions. "Prison sucks" to be sure, but compared to most people she will be getting off easy.
- ALittleLight 3y agoDo you think the other inmates are all rich too?
- pm90 3y ago> many of which will be raped and subject to slave labor conditions. for far leas damaging crimes is the crucial part. To be clear: I don’t support those conditions for anyone. When society meets out punishment, it shouldn’t be used as an excuse to terrorize people who are serving out their sentence. But that it happens to people who don’t even deserve it is horrifying.
- trentnix 3y agoIt’s like Office Space come to life… The most they would do is put us for a few months into a white-collar, minimum-security resort!
- kube-system 3y agoYeah but everyone forgets the scene where they talk to the lawyer later on. https://youtube.com/watch?v=-da3-gPWFp0 https://youtube.com/watch?v=-da3-gPWFp0
- helsinkiandrew 3y ago> "Rule for thee but not for me" when you've got Kissinger on board How does that work? Kissinger (as well as lots of other very rich, powerful people with government connections) was one of the victims of the fraud.
- kypro 3y agoOut of interest, is it the double standards that bother you or the punishment?
- akiselev 3y agoBoth. In an ideal world, all nonviolent prisoners would serve their time in minimum security prisons as would violent offenders who are genuinely rehabilitating. With work release reintegration into society is little more than a change in residence from prison to halfway house to their own place at the end of a prison sentence. But we don't live in an ideal world and as long as the United States justice system has a modus operandi, it should be applied consistently for the sake of fairness and equality. Otherwise it's just a big farce.
- notadev 3y agoI feel like everyone just overlooked the prisoners working at McDonalds portion of your comment. Where does that occur?
- akiselev 3y agoThat might have been some fake news that worked itself into my brain. Politfact says it's mostly false [1] and that McDonald's doesn't use prison labor in its franchises but did at one point contract out the manufacturing of their uniforms to a company that used prison labor. Although according to the ACLU [2], prisoners are used in McDonald's supply chain and in restitution centers in Mississippi (which is very different from Holmes' federal case, mind): > Mississippi is the only state that still uses restitution centers to lock people up for an indefinite period of time while they work for private employers to earn money to pay off court-ordered debts. Hundreds of people a year are sentenced to be confined in Mississippi’s restitution centers, where they are required to stay until they pay off court fees, fines, and restitution. Workers are required to pay for room and board, transportation to their jobs, and medical care costs. They work slaughtering chickens, cutting catfish at processing plants, at Popeyes and McDonald’s franchises, and for auto mechanic shops, furniture companies, and meatpacking plants.... > ... Taylor Farms, North America’s largest supplier of salads and fresh-cut vegetables, paid over $2.2 million to Arizona’s prison industries program for labor contracts to employ incarcerated workers to cut and package fruit and vegetables for the company.371 Taylor Farms supplies some of the nation’s biggest fast food and grocery chains, including Chipotle, Costco, Kroger, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Ralphs, Safeway, Subway, Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods Market. That's a hell of a list though. Costco, Kroger, Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods basically covers every consumer in the country [1] https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jun/22/instagram-posts/instagram-post-shares-misleading-information-about/ https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jun/22/instagram-... [2] https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/legal-documents/2022-06-15-captivelaborresearchreport.pdf https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/legal-documents/2022...
- gnicholas 3y agoIt sounds like the filing of the appeal caused the reporting date to be pushed back automatically. She is not (yet) a fugitive; she’s just pulling all the levers to delay as long as possible. > The appeal automatically delays her reporting date, and she will now remain out of prison until a court of appeals rules on her request.
- hinkley 3y agoMaybe I'm not looking at some bigger picture thing here but this seems like the sort of thing that should have interest payments involved. 15% APR on all time served. If you tie your sentence up in court for 2 years you owe the general public an extra 33% jail time.
- gnicholas 3y agoSo if the judge makes a bad ruling and you have to appeal, then you'd owe more time?
- hinkley 3y agoYou don’t owe time if you’re exonerated.
- gnicholas 3y agoTrue, but it makes it that much riskier to appeal. You can end up losing on procedural grounds, and then you're extra screwed. As a (former) lawyer my gut tells me this might be ruled unconstitutional, on account of due process rights and the presumption of innocence. But it's an interesting idea, and one I've never heard before.
- hinkley 3y agoI don’t think you’re wrong that there are unintended consequences there. Thats the problem with politics. The simple solutions are wrong, and everybody hates how goddamned complicated the less wrong solutions are (and enough people hate compromise on principle so they sandbag the whole process).
- JohnFen 3y ago> If you're rich you get to refuse to show up to prison? More like, if you're rich you can afford to keep filing appeals (for a while). But it's no secret that the US justice system favors the wealthy.
- kodah 3y agoHolmes had a baby and that pushed back her initial court appearance for a while, she tried to offload a lot of blame onto Sunny Balwani, she married into money with a man that's an heir to a retirement home company and lives on a ranch outside of Palo Alto that's worth $135M, and has filed several timely appeals that happen to push back the date she goes to minimum security prison in Houston. Frankly, the answer to how that works is less rich and more being highly adept at utilizing various levels of privilege to her advantage in almost calculating fashion.
- hinkley 3y agoAlmost like a sociopath would.
- evan_ 3y agoI don't think trying to stay out of jail makes you a sociopath
- jjtheblunt 3y agoCreating two children, once she knew she’s facing prison, to hope first for no sentence and second for indefinite delays, might count as sociopath behavior.
- hinkley 3y agoI've spent too much time in r/raisedbynarcissists on behalf of a friend who discovered later in life that they were, and let me tell you, it really does seem that having your narcissist/sociopathic parent locked up for most of your formative years may be the silver lining of your life.
- jjtheblunt 3y agoThat’s entirely plausible!
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- EZ-Cheeze 3y ago[flagged]
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- toss1 3y agoThe delay is pending an appeal. A previous ruling on the appeal found that she was unlikely to win a new trial, so sentencing date was set. Appealing that resulted in a more optimistic finding. It may not last for long, and in any case will merely delay the day she gets out. Her co-conspirator went the same route, was denied, and has started his sentence. But ya, it sure feels like 'leniency for thee and not for me'
- bnralt 3y ago> I never realized that just choosing not to show up was an option. At least around here, it seems to happen a lot to violent offenders who aren't rich. There was a guy a few months ago who committed an armed robbery. Reached a plea to get it turned into an attempted robbery. He simply stopped showing up to court dates (both for the armed robbery and a separate theft case) and was out on his own for months, until he stabbed an innocent woman to death[1]. Just a few weeks ago one of the guys who shot a Washington Commanders player absconded, and it doesn't seem like anyone cares. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/04/ivy-city-hotel-stabbing-dc-christy-bautista/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/04/ivy-city-... [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/05/commanders-brian-robinson-shooting-teen-absconds/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/05/commander...
- iancmceachern 3y agoExactly, why would anyone show up on time then?
- karaterobot 3y agoHere is the way it works, as explained in the article: > [S]he is appealing [Judge] Davila’s ruling that she remain in custody while it is determined whether she should get a new trial... The appeal automatically delays her reporting date, and she will now remain out of prison until a court of appeals rules on her request.