Former Congressman Tom DeLay was sentenced to three years in state prison for money laundering yesterday by a Republican judge, who said he agreed with the jury that convicted him.
Doug Berman questioned whether three years was an unusually stiff sentence. However, according to parole attorney Bill Habern, "He will be eligible for parole in 4 mos 8 days. On top of that, do you really think TDCJ wants to deal with holding Tom DeLay? -- [they] certainly can't put him in general population."
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17 comments:
Scott,
Why not put him in general population? He is a convicted criminal and deserves the full benefits of that behavior. In my mind, and it seems many others, he is no better than the 'normal' convict. What makes his crime worse than most is that he circumvented the Constitutional safeguards put in place to keep our government honest to the people.
What I find to be a travesty is that he was allowed to pick and choose his own punishment. Being allowed 10 years of probation instead of the 5 year prison sentence is BS in my book.
Try that with a car thief, or a purse snatcher and see how loudly the elected's would scream legislation from the bench.
Now, we'll see Tom in a couple of years on Fox News, right next to the other criminal Hannity.
I don't think DeLay will ever see TDCJ. He will be out in a couple days on an Appeals Bond. The Republican Judge will set it low. But either way DeLay likely has the wherewithal (or the connections) to post whatever the amount. He will just sit in County (single cell) until all that is worked out. Probably never even see a diagnostics unit in TDCJ. One thing I do notice is that he is no longer smiling...that is probably as bad as it gets...even that is probably stategic.
That's right - his case is not a "3g" offense, so he's parole eligible pretty quick. And I can't imagine Gov. Good Hair's hand-picked boys and girls on the parole board will deny Tom's first parole date. In reality 2-3 even 4 years TDC is a quick turn around trip.
As much as I dislike Delay and what he stands for, you can't put him in general population. TDCJ has a duty to reasonably safeguard the wellbeing of the inmates. Of course you can't keep everyone out of general population, but when you've got a celebrity, a politician, etc... they have to keep them safe. Honestly we should be arguing for TDCJ to do a better job safeguarding it's wards, not a worse job.
Seems to me that folks who use their elected positions to screw their constituents over ought to get the full f-you-up-the-butt treatment in genpop. That kind of betrayal shouldn't be winked at.
How odd to see you liberals decrying the "right wing vitriol" which you claim caused the Tucson shootings, but you sure don't mind ratcheting it up when you get an opportunity to slam some conservative public figure. What a bunch of "effing" hypocrits!
The comments posted so far help illustrate thisfor what it is--the criminalization of politics. Let the guy go, move along, nothing to see here. Texas politics, nothing new.
I'm a libertarian, 8:46, so I would gleefully recommend 20 years for stealing candy for ANY politician. They're all scum. Same goes for grandstanding DAs, their sycophantic little buttboy ADAs, and anyone else who suckles from the public teat. If you make a career of 'serving the public', then by god that's what you'd better do. Abusing that trust is far worse than some addled meth head who gets popped for less than a gram. Liberal or conservative, if you betray the public that put it's trust in you, you deserve to hang. So shut your pie hole.
To R. Shackleford.......
If as you suggest, does your comment and suggestion relate to the 8th amendment of the constitution?
REALITY CHECK:
Goodbye life of luxury, hello Price Daniel Unit! I hope the former House Majority Leader enjoys the windmill's, cotton-fields and dirt of Scurry County as it will likely be his new home, for at least awhile.
Tom DeLay on the "hoe-squad", PRICELESS!
I doubt he will serve a day in the prison, but seeing that smug grin wiped off of his face was priceless!
Delay serve even ONE day in TDCJ? I doubt it. He's a "Good Ole Boy", remember?
Delay is way too old and to soft for the hoe squad as priceless as that may be.
I find the more interesting question to be whether Mr. Tom can successfully "do" probation and/or parole.
The typical terms of probation, and probably parole (although I'm not as familiar with parole), include: No alcohol, no drugs, random, unannounced tests for same, get and keep a job, avoid places and persons of ill-repute [which may include Republican and Democrat politicians who have been convicted of fraud, theft, etc.], submit to unannounced home visits by the probation/community supervision officer, report to that person as ordered, don't leave the Central Texas area without prior permission, pay all fines, court costs and restitution, if any, and don't commit another offense. The only thing missing for Mr. Tom would be a sign in the front yard identifying him as a convicted Congressman and a requirement that he register as such with the local Sheriff or Police department. Oh. And a requirement that he keep all his lights off and stay inside on Halloween, while appropriate, probably will not be a condition of probation.
These are fairly strict and onerous requirements. Tom DeLay has exhibited an attitude reflective of his beliefs that he is generally not bound by the same standards of civilized, honest conduct as most of the "free" population. I think that attitude will eventually put him in a position where he will have to contend with a motion to revoke probation [or application to revoke probation].
Doran,
When he gets back home, you wanna stake out his house with me.. We can anon-O-Call his PO on any and all behaviors.. :)
Thanks, but I think I will have a job by then watching rust form on deserted manufacturing facilities in Houston.
R. Shackleford,
Poor form.
In your post, you appear to suggest or perhaps even condone offender-on-offender sexual assault, "ought to get the full f-you-up-the-butt treatment in genpop."
Such attitudes have to change if we're serious about creating lasting change in our prisons. Otherwise, let's be honest and admit that we're not all that interested in maintaining the eighth amendment.
~ Prison Psych
R. Shackleford seems to love to advocate violence. This call for violence too often happens on this blog.
See 08:24:00 AM
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