Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Necessity (or Desire!) is the Mother of Invention

Some inmates cooked up this scheme for getting out of jail. Copyright their names, then demand large sums of money from prison officials who used their names.  When the prison officials don't pay, file liens against the property of the prison Warden and have the property siezed. Refuse to release the property until the officials let them out of prison.
 
From the article:

The four men and William Michael Roberson, 50, of Baton Rouge, La., were indicted on accusations of conspiring to impede the duties of federal prison officials, Richter said. Roberson is accused of assisting the four inmates in the scheme, which allegedly took place in late 2003 and early 2004.

All five were also indicted on charges of mailing threatening communications with the intent to extort.

Maybe this a strategy that should be presented to those concerned about being in jail for marijuana use or possession?
 
In fact, why don't we copyright our names and prohibit their use on any government document we don't like, like tax notices or arrest warrants?
 
Give those guys some credit for ingenuity, although they can't be too smart since they got caught for the crime that got them in jail in the first place - and it looks like they may get some additional time for this.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our "throw the book at 'em" AG Troy King supports tougher enforcement but no money for jail's, treatment or therapy. King's approach is the more costly in the long run, and the immeasurable human cost. It's hard to get a job once you have a criminal record. Most employers today run background checks.

"The vast majority of drug related problems have nothing to do with the actual drug, but instead with how the government treats its Drug War victims. “I’m on probation”, “They suspended my license”, “He’s in jail”, and “I have a criminal record of drug use.” Drugs didn’t cause these problems - politicians, hypocritical voters, and the government did."


href="http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070702/NEWS/70702010/1012/TL05">

Anonymous said...

I could not get the link to work on your blog the article is titled [Overcrowding has made Tutwiler a potential tinderbox] and it is at the Tuscaloosa News. It is the worse conditions I have ever read about.

I don't know what the answer to the problem is.

C

RogueWriter said...

Hi, c. harris,

Here's a clickable link for the URL you posted above:

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070702/NEWS/70702010/1012/TL05

It seems to me that if we as a society are not willing to pay to take proper care of inmates, then we should start releasing inmates and reduce the number of crimes with jail penalties.

Maybe people should think about whether government should be paying to fund museums and theatres and libraries, build sports facilities, pay large salaries to elected officials and football coaches, etc., when they are tempted to "throw the book" at someone.

Anonymous said...

RogueWriter:

"we should start releasing inmates and reduce the number of crimes with jail penalties." I agree with that statement. You can't go to jail for having bad roads, but you can for operating "illegal jail's." Most people don't know that.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, ordered the state to make reforms in 2002 [five years ago.] It doesn't appear that they have made any reforms as far as the conditions, or number of inmates are concerned.

C