JC> SB> There are various ways that these people have ended up
  > SB> convicted of a crime they did not do.
JC> And there are probably _more_ that _don't_ get convicted (except possibly 
f
  > a lesser crime) through plea bargaining.
I agree with you here.
JC> SB> There are political prisoners,
  > SB> in which the state deliberately planted evidence to make the person
  > SB> look guilty, or deliberately with-held evidence that would have 
roven
  > SB> the person's innocence.
JC> Difficult to prove.
If done efficiently by the state, almost impossible to prove.  it still
happens.
JC> SB> Peltier comes to mind here.
JC> As I recal, Peltier also has knowledge about the crime that he has 
repeated
  > refused to reveal.
That is an entirely different issue than whether or not he committed the
crime.
JC> SB> suspect in this particular case, even though they were innocent 
this*
  > SB> time.
JC> And their _previous_ record can't be held against them.
Actually, I don't have any sympathy for a person who gets put in jail
for a crimie they did not commit, after escaping punishment for other,
often worse, crimes; even though I did use this as an example of
innocent people in prison.  As I said to Rob, when I punished him for
something I wasn't absolutely sure he had done, but was in line with
things he *was* doing, "See this as a just punishment for being the type
of person who does these things."
JC> SB> There are also cases where the primary criminal gets a light 
entence,
  > SB> and a secondary criminal "gets the book thrown at them."  There is a
  > SB> woman serving a life sentence in Muncy State Prison, Pennsylvania.
  > SB> Remember that in Pennsylvania, life *means* life, with no chance of
  > SB> parole.  She was convicted of being an accomplice in a murder.  What
  > SB> actually happened is:  her boyfriend killed somebody, without her
  > SB> knowledge or approval.  He asked her to hide him.  She did so (a
  > SB> stupid thing to do, but she was young and dumb).
JC> The big question? Did she know better than to hide a criminal or did she 
sa
  > to herself: "I won't get caught".
She knew better, and she should not have hidden the murderer.  I am in
agreement with that.  I even agree she should be punished  I am in
disagreement with a law that puts her in prison for life for that
offense.
JC> SB> The act of hiding a
  > SB> fugitive in Pennsylvania makes one an accomplice to the crime.
JC> As long as everyone knows that, I don't see the problem. I wouldn't
  > _knowingly_ hide a criminal who committed a major crime (I'm not talking
  > about someone that doesn't fasten their seatbelt.) even if it _wasn't_ a
  > crime to hide them. That is a crime against the community.
She was 19 years old, madly in love, and probably did not know what the
law was.  As I said, it was wrong; and it was still not worthy of the
penalty enacted against her.
                            Sondra
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