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Author Topic: Haleigh Marie Cummings #38 7/15/10 - 9/24/10  (Read 567601 times)
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Heart
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« Reply #820 on: August 28, 2010, 03:11:02 PM »

Sentencing Laws: 'Get Tough' Gets Expensive

Published: Saturday, August 28, 2010 at 12:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, August 27, 2010 at 11:59 p.m.

Recently, in a brief span of time, an 18-year-old Gainesville man was sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter and battery, a 23-year-old woman was sentenced to one year and a day in prison for vehicular manslaughter and a 19-year-old Satsuma woman was sentenced to 15 years for selling 25 hydrocodone pills to an undercover officer.

Why would selling a handful of pills draw vastly more prison time than taking a human life? Because Florida's mandatory-minimum sentencing laws for drug offenses are among the toughest in the nation.

"The mandatory minimum for [trafficking] over 28 grams of Vicodin or oxycoden is 25 years," said Deborah Fleischaker, state legislative affairs director of Families Against Mandatory Minumums to a reporter. "In Texas it's two [years]."

$103 MILLION A YEAR

Florida prisons house more than 5,000 inmates serving mandatory drug sentences at an annual cost to the taxpayers of $103 million a year.

There was discussion during the past session of the Florida Legislature about possible changes to the mandatory-minimum drug laws. But no action was taken. Given the costs involved, and the continuing budget crisis, criminal-justice officials believe the topic will come up next year.

"Last session, there was some discussion about reviewing them, Bill Cervone, state attorney for the 8th Judicial Circuit, told The Gainesville Sun. "Nothing came of them, but I expect them to continue next year. There is a real need for those kinds of penalties for the right people. I personally don't like mandatory anything that ties the hands either of my office or of sentencing judges."

Mandatory-minimum sentencing is a legacy of the Florida Legislature's determination to "get tough" on crime. But with the state going into its fourth year of multibillion-dollar revenue shortfalls, lawmakers must ask themselves how much longer taxpayers can afford Florida's brand of lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key justice.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20100828/EDIT01/8285000?Title=Sentencing-Laws-Get-Tough-Gets-Expensive
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« Reply #821 on: August 29, 2010, 01:34:00 PM »




Its so sad to check here everyday and still no Haleigh.

Heart.. thank you for keeping life in this thread. an angelic monkey
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Heart
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« Reply #822 on: August 29, 2010, 06:35:58 PM »

No Program – But I Do Have Some Thoughts And Updates

In the Haleigh Cummings case the blogosphere was lit up this week by an article that BNN published regarding Lisa Croslin. Sorry folks, but I am sticking to my guns on this one. Let me ask a question? If I was wrong, where is the police report? If I was a top notch lawyer I would want to have an ounce of proof before I went around tossing mud at people. I think I would also be tempted to have my explanation of the events published by the main stream media, rather than play in the comments section of a web site. Of course the answer to this question of where is the police report is simple, from what we have heard there isn’t one!

more...

http://www.bloggernews.net/125167
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« Reply #823 on: August 29, 2010, 06:36:59 PM »




Its so sad to check here everyday and still no Haleigh.

Heart.. thank you for keeping life in this thread. an angelic monkey
It is a must mymonkey for HaLeigh  an angelic monkey!
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Brandi
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« Reply #824 on: August 29, 2010, 09:43:38 PM »



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« Reply #825 on: August 29, 2010, 09:55:22 PM »





 an angelic monkey  That's really beautiful, Brandi.
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« Reply #826 on: August 29, 2010, 11:13:27 PM »

Thank you Brandi, that is beautiful.

As always, prayers for Hayleigh. an angelic monkey
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May Zahra's Spirit shine forever.

Justice for Zahra.
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« Reply #827 on: August 30, 2010, 12:18:31 AM »




an angelic monkey

Nice work Brandi
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« Reply #828 on: August 30, 2010, 09:30:49 AM »

ray, joe stuck around the next day and both he and misty passed out fliers--after she tells her family Joe took her behind the Kangaroo and threatened her with a knife again. Joe of course denies any involvement in Haleight's demise.

Art

http://www.artharris.com/2010/08/22/haleigh-cummings-sked-for-nancy-grace-monday/#IDComment95812380
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« Reply #829 on: August 30, 2010, 09:37:05 AM »

Try mandatory sentencing alternatives

Mandatory sentencing in Florida is always costly and often unfair.

August 30, 2010

After a diverticulitis attack, Scott Earle received Vicodin to dull his pain. Days later, his roommate introduced him to a woman at a local pub. After learning Mr. Earle had a stash of prescription drugs, she persuaded him to share some for her bad back.

Over time, she pressed for more. After his prescription lapsed, he introduced her to a friend who began to sell her increasing amounts of pills -- eventually more than 100 tablets at a time. Only, the woman was an undercover cop. Mr. Earle was pinched on felony drug trafficking and conspiracy charges.

Though he never sold a single pill nor made a dime off the deals, Florida's mandatory minimum laws stuck him with a 25-year sentence. By his scheduled release in 2019, Floridians will have shelled out more than $500,000 to keep a first-time, nonviolent offender behind bars. Your tax dollars at work.

Mr. Earle's story illustrates not only why the state's prisons have become bloated, but also how Florida has become a fiscal prisoner to its tough-on-crime laws. Already saddled with one of America's fastest growing prison populations, state lawmakers must make reforming mandatory minimum laws a priority.

The laws are a three-decades-old vestige of the cocaine wars. Snowed under by white powder, state lawmakers hoped to get cocaine traffickers off the street with stiff compulsory sentences.

But the laws -- unpopular with judges -- too often resulted in people like Erik Weyant inhabiting space meant for killers and kingpins. Mr. Weyant fired warning shots into the air to chase off a menacing and intoxicated throng, led by a man who'd periodically harassed his girlfriend. Though no one was hurt, and he had no criminal record, the 23-year-old was slapped with 20 years under Florida's 10-20-life law because a gun was discharged.

Such cases help explain Florida's corrections paradox: less crime, but a 20 percent jump in prison population in the past five years. Currently, 102,279 people are behind bars in Florida.

Mandatory minimum laws have not only helped overstock Florida prisons, they've contributed to the viral growth of corrections budgets. In 1995, the state corrections budget was $1.6 billion. This year it stands at just over $2.2 billion. Incarcerating just the more than 5,100 inmates serving mandatory drug sentences costs taxpayers almost $97.5 million annually. Though less than previous estimates, Florida's inmate population currently is projected to hit 111,510 by 2015. The state Department of Corrections doesn't know yet if new prisons will be needed.

"Continuing to pour money into a bloated prison system in a time of fiscal austerity is not only unsustainable, it confounds common sense," the Collins Center for Public Policy correctly noted in its recent "Smart Justice" report.

Lawbreakers should face penalties. But judges -- led by guidelines and attuned to extenuating circumstances -- are better equipped to decide what consequences fit the crime.

If lawmakers don't have the fortitude to repeal mandatory sentencing, they should add safety valves -- laws that allow courts discretion to give lighter, more just sentences based on certain requirements.

In April, for instance, 19-year-old Hope Sykes of Palatka received a mandatory 15-years for peddling 25 hydrocodone pills to an undercover cop. Not exactly Pablo Escobar. But Florida's sentences dwarf even tough-as-nails Texas, where delivery of more than 28 grams of similar drugs can draw a two-year sentence. Here, it's 25 years.

This year, the Legislature toyed with studying mandatory minimums, but then took a pass. Unacceptable. Taxpayers can no longer afford for lawmakers to dawdle while the state budget sinks into the red even as corrections costs soar.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-ed-mandatory-minimums-083010-20100827,0,7683707.story
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« Reply #830 on: August 30, 2010, 05:37:59 PM »

O/T

Putnam County Florida Breaking News

http://www.palatkadailynews.com/articles/2010/08/30/news/news01.txt

BREAKING NEWS----MISSING CHILD

Published: Monday, August 30, 2010 5:08 PM EDT
Palatka authorities are asking the public's help in locating a Mellon Elementary School student reported missing after school on Monday.

Police identified the missing child as 5-year-old Bre'Anna Vreen.

She was last seen wearing a purple and black ballerina-style top with black tights. Her hair has braids and beads. She was carrying a hot pink backpack bearing her name.

Anyone with information about Bre'Anna is asked to call 911.
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« Reply #831 on: August 30, 2010, 05:54:03 PM »

O/T

Putnam County Florida Breaking News

http://www.palatkadailynews.com/articles/2010/08/30/news/news01.txt

BREAKING NEWS----MISSING CHILD

Published: Monday, August 30, 2010 5:08 PM EDT
Palatka authorities are asking the public's help in locating a Mellon Elementary School student reported missing after school on Monday.

Police identified the missing child as 5-year-old Bre'Anna Vreen.

She was last seen wearing a purple and black ballerina-style top with black tights. Her hair has braids and beads. She was carrying a hot pink backpack bearing her name.

Anyone with information about Bre'Anna is asked to call 911.
CANCEL MISSING CHILD ALERT the Mellon Elementary student has been found.
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« Reply #832 on: August 31, 2010, 03:43:36 PM »

Heart - Thank you again for remembering this thread every day - without fail. Bless your heart.

Not that anyone has asked my opinion (or cares), but I think the handling of drug charges is crazy. Look at Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, even Rush Limbaugh, etc. (many "celebrity" types). Any of those with a court-appointed attorney, or an "inexpensive" attorney, would be doing time. Plus, the "mandatory" sentencing guidelines seem to vary wildly from state to state.

IMO - these people need help. The problem is, addicts don't really want to quit. Maybe a combination of jail time, absolutely serving X days - so they can see what "rock bottom" really is - then off to rehab for X months. Thirty days of rehab is not enough. The drug cycle has to be broken ...

I think the result would be fewer repeat offenders.

As it stands, we definitely are losing the war on drugs. Think of Lisa and Hank Croslin. Their lives are broken, they don't have the means of fixing it, and it's how their children grew up.

Thank you again Heart.
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Why did they have to disappear her body?

Murder & Crime on  Aruba Summary - http://tinyurl.com/2lhukn

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« Reply #833 on: August 31, 2010, 06:08:13 PM »

                         Name                                                Case#               Start   
192641   BROCK, DONNA MICHELLE   Primary   10000130CFMA   Sept1   1:30PM   FELONY SENTENCING

http://doris.clk.co.st-johns.fl.us/courtcaseweb/DocketSearch.aspx?eventid=22469
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« Reply #834 on: August 31, 2010, 06:09:12 PM »

Heart - Thank you again for remembering this thread every day - without fail. Bless your heart.

Not that anyone has asked my opinion (or cares), but I think the handling of drug charges is crazy. Look at Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, even Rush Limbaugh, etc. (many "celebrity" types). Any of those with a court-appointed attorney, or an "inexpensive" attorney, would be doing time. Plus, the "mandatory" sentencing guidelines seem to vary wildly from state to state.

IMO - these people need help. The problem is, addicts don't really want to quit. Maybe a combination of jail time, absolutely serving X days - so they can see what "rock bottom" really is - then off to rehab for X months. Thirty days of rehab is not enough. The drug cycle has to be broken ...

I think the result would be fewer repeat offenders.

As it stands, we definitely are losing the war on drugs. Think of Lisa and Hank Croslin. Their lives are broken, they don't have the means of fixing it, and it's how their children grew up.

Thank you again Heart.

My pleasure msmarple!
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Boycott ALL the Scamthonys THEY are ALL LIARS.


« Reply #835 on: August 31, 2010, 06:41:17 PM »

                         Name                                                Case#               Start   
192641   BROCK, DONNA MICHELLE   Primary   10000130CFMA   Sept1   1:30PM   FELONY SENTENCING

http://doris.clk.co.st-johns.fl.us/courtcaseweb/DocketSearch.aspx?eventid=22469
I still can't believe she got herself in the middle of this.  Stupid stupid stupid!  Do you think she's gonna get 15 years too?
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« Reply #836 on: August 31, 2010, 06:58:14 PM »

                         Name                                                Case#               Start   
192641   BROCK, DONNA MICHELLE   Primary   10000130CFMA   Sept1   1:30PM   FELONY SENTENCING

http://doris.clk.co.st-johns.fl.us/courtcaseweb/DocketSearch.aspx?eventid=22469
I still can't believe she got herself in the middle of this.  Stupid stupid stupid!  Do you think she's gonna get 15 years too?


04Bull, she just might get 15 years, because of the minimum sentence thing.  That would be a long, long time.  I'm not sure even if she had the best legal representation and had never been in trouble before, if she could get a lesser sentence.  I wonder if there's anyone that could stand for her?  Influence?   
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« Reply #837 on: August 31, 2010, 09:25:52 PM »

                         Name                                                Case#               Start   
192641   BROCK, DONNA MICHELLE   Primary   10000130CFMA   Sept1   1:30PM   FELONY SENTENCING

http://doris.clk.co.st-johns.fl.us/courtcaseweb/DocketSearch.aspx?eventid=22469
I still can't believe she got herself in the middle of this.  Stupid stupid stupid!  Do you think she's gonna get 15 years too?


04Bull, she just might get 15 years, because of the minimum sentence thing.  That would be a long, long time.  I'm not sure even if she had the best legal representation and had never been in trouble before, if she could get a lesser sentence.  I wonder if there's anyone that could stand for her?  Influence?   

did she kill haleigh? no prob not
did she sell or give for free drugs to misty? yup
why she did it doesn't matter there are mexicans selling drugs to pay for a babies operation back in mexico... it doesn't matter why at all she did it and she should get sentenced just like the rest... if you believe she should get less time then you might as well find misty and everyone else innocent due to entrapment.. they are the same train of thought... ya know? it is illegal either way... that's how the cookie crumbles if you deal/hand out for free drugs then you are guilty of distributing drugs and if you traffic them then thats that... not saying that she is as bad of people as the rest of the clan but she was involved in the pill hand out just like the rest so in this case she is just as guilty and just as bad
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« Reply #838 on: August 31, 2010, 09:59:42 PM »

                        Name                                                Case#               Start   
192641   BROCK, DONNA MICHELLE   Primary   10000130CFMA   Sept1  1:30PM   FELONY SENTENCING

http://doris.clk.co.st-johns.fl.us/courtcaseweb/DocketSearch.aspx?eventid=22469
I still can't believe she got herself in the middle of this.  Stupid stupid stupid!  Do you think she's gonna get 15 years too?


04Bull, she just might get 15 years, because of the minimum sentence thing.   That would be a long, long time.  I'm not sure even if she had the best legal representation and had never been in trouble before, if she could get a lesser sentence.  I wonder if there's anyone that could stand for her?  Influence?  

did she kill haleigh? no prob not
did she sell or give for free drugs to misty? yup
why she did it doesn't matter there are mexicans selling drugs to pay for a babies operation back in mexico... it doesn't matter why at all she did it and she should get sentenced just like the rest... if you believe she should get less time then you might as well find misty and everyone else innocent due to entrapment.. they are the same train of thought... ya know? it is illegal either way... that's how the cookie crumbles if you deal/hand out for free drugs then you are guilty of distributing drugs and if you traffic them then thats that... not saying that she is as bad of people as the rest of the clan but she was involved in the pill hand out just like the rest so in this case she is just as guilty and just as bad

Were you directing your post to me?  
My comments were not in any way  intended to imply Donna should get less time for selling drugs. In no way do I feel sorry for her.  I have NO, ZERO, ZIP, NADA tolerance for selling of drugs.  Fifteen years is a long time, no matter how you slice it.  And my opinion was she would get the full 15 years because of mandatory sentencing.  After that, I only mentioned possibilities that could reduce her sentence, and NOT that she should get off and etc.  Just let me make that very clear.  And I do agree she was stupid.  Very, very stupid.  She had choices and she made bad choices.  Now she has to pay.  It's not up to me personally what her sentence will be.  Thank you for standing strong on your opinion.  I'm the daughter of a retired, deceased police chief and I have other very close relatives involved in law enforcement.  Feeling sorry for pull pushers/users just isn't in me.  I'm sorry you misunderstood that.  Thank you for your lecture, but understand you are preaching to the choir.  Geez.  All I did was tack on my opinion to O4Bull's question  of whether Donna would get the full 15 year or not and the possibilities that could lessen her sentence.  Where you got the idea you needed to school me on drug abuse is beyond me from my post, my words.  Was it this:  At the end of my post I said " I wonder if "anyone would stand for her", is a reasonable question.  Is there going to be someone that comes forward and tries to make a case for Donna, possibly if she hasn't been in trouble before, good character, community service, yadda yadda.  We do still have a legal system here in this country and that might be one point that COULD reduce her sentence.  Again, it's not up to me whether she will get it reduced or not.  I hope that clears things up.  Haleigh's threads are full of  stories about drug abusing people that have let her down in her life.    

(Edit to add "stories about" to clarify my post.)




« Last Edit: August 31, 2010, 10:25:54 PM by MuffyBee » Logged

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« Reply #839 on: August 31, 2010, 10:39:22 PM »

I think Donna Brock should get more years added to her sentence.  I mean come on she knew what this was all about and she still did it.  How stupid is she?!  JMO.
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