Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Overcriminalization run amok

Actual headline from WFAA: "Dallas woman faces felony as punishment for pruning."

Do you suppose felony charges were the only tool available to keep this 67-year old attorney from pruning the thicket in a greenbelt down the street from her house?

13 comments:

  1. Yeah, that elderly lady pruning a few vines is gonna ruin the view for that neighbor woman--uh huh. Lock her up and throw away the key!

    What the heck is WRONG with people? Between the Tea Partiers and this, I have serious fears for our future.

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  2. WOW!!! This murderess thicket killer...String her up by her toes...Twenty Lashes and the throw her in the stockade!

    Once again the punishment does not fit the crime...if you can seriously call prunning a thicket a crime. How about a 50 dollar citation for minor destruction of county property and call it a day.

    Aren't our courts already backed up enough!?!? Mean while someone is getting away with a real crime...like AIG.

    If communities around our country responded to the scandles going on in our Government like they do the "Thicket Prunning Bandet" we might really set an example of Justice served.

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  3. Maybe they should send her to an evidence based practice...that is the going thing.

    There are two sides to this argument and both are valid. Clearly the punishment doesn't fit the crime, nevertheless, there should be a punishment. If there are laws against pruning those particular bushes and it is clearly posted, where does this woman get off thinking the rules do not apply to her!!

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  4. 11:48 asks, "where does this woman get off thinking the rules do not apply to her!"

    In a public greenbelt she wanted to clear away the brambles enough so she could walk her dogs there. She lives in the neighborhood too, the greenbelt doesn't just belong to the people who live across the street.

    Also, you say it was "clearly posted," but the sign to which I presume you refer in the video "Protect the Greenbelt, Keep it Wild," was actually in the yard of the neighbor who complained on her, not on the public property where she was allegedly pruning.

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  5. An official warning to the elderly woman would have been sufficient.

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  6. She should be placed on probation for a minimum period of 2 years. Included in probation should be cognitive education classes which the perp will be financially responsible for, in addition to other fines and fees. Other classes could be required at the discretion of the probation officer. Don't allow her to travel outside her county. Possibly a GPS monitor to keep her away from greenbelts. Regular polygraphs should be administered throughout the probation period as a measure to determine if she has reoffended. And of course, she will be responsible for these costs as well. And don't forget the community service.

    That's Justice Texas Style.

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  7. R. Shackleford4/23/2010 04:27:00 PM

    Amazing. This state is chock full of people who really suck. A verbal warning would have been perfectly reasonable. A felony charge is just so far beyond justified that it makes me question why anyone bothers to follow these draconian laws in the first place. O' course, I pretty much question that on a daily basis.

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  8. She was using a deadly weapon to prune. Is Aggravated Pruning a 3G offense?

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  9. Waterboarding, rendition and torture are too good for her. Obviously she's Osama bin Laden in disguise: has anyone among your readers seen this lady and Sheikh bin Laden together?

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  10. Between the Tea Partiers and this, I have serious fears for our future.

    Good thing you didn't live back in 1776 there 10:22. :)

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  11. One other thing.........the irony here is she is an attorney. You would think that someone with this education level would know to check with the property owner, city hall, etc before making alterations to property that does not belong to her.

    Give her a warning and be done with it.

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  12. "That's Justice Texas Style.

    4/23/2010 12:48:00 PM"

    Right on man. From your description, I think you've part of the 'special' system. I have too. and you're right, every person convicted SHOULD have to go through this. maybe people wouldn't be so happy to allow this sort of thing to be laid down on others.

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