Michigan Votes Forum

this law should be passed asap, Michigan has the most high incarceration rate out of all states, and alot of inmates were over sentenced for the crime that was commited, and alot of the inmates have already gave alot of there lives being incarcerated, and have obtained the proper education and training to be a productive citizen.So yes Granholm needs to sign the bill

Thank you Mr. Cushingberry,my husband has served 7years, his sentence was 12-25years, during his time he has had no incidents, he has earned several certificates and a dergree, by passing this law he will be closer to being home with his family, and loved ones. If you had someone incarcerated would you want them home. My husband was over sentenced from the beginning, he was sentenced with all that time as if he was a murdrer, and that he is not!!!

that was the most ignorant thing you could have let enter your mind, you sound like the type of person who need to be incarcerated for being so ignorant. Crime is all over the world,as you can see, if you got sense enough to read the paper of watch the news. Look at the situation in Virginia, have you ever heard of this happening in Detroit

the VT killer was not in prison had never been, what caused this was failure of the school and the mental health professionals who overlooked his craziness, even if he was caught instead of killing himself he would have been in the crazy house not the prison-your streching for stuff now nice try though!

bullcrap I've read in a long time. So we will vote republican only to have our right to decide what's right for our bodies disintegrate before our eyes, so that cures to diseases can be hopeless because stem cell research will never be passed, and so that they can tell us that gay is wrong but then sleep with male pages???? Sounds like a fantastic idea...NOT! Oh and another thing then we can start WWIII based on a bunch of lies so that the whole world comes to an end FANTASTIC! Then we can sentence everyone to death and kill more people and find out through DNA 8 years later their innocent, then we can end minimums and maximums until the prison population gets so big that we have to build a new prison right next door to your pretty little subburban home where your kids can play outside and converse with the inmates-sound good? You really need to quit giving us your conservative spew because the intelligent members of this state voted Democrat and will continue to including the next presidential election. There are many people in jail for many different crimes so each one needs to be sentenced different and when they are in a pinch like now with overcrowding they need to assess who they can release. Next you complain about her raising taxes and then have the stupidity to complain again when she cuts, just be honest no matter what she does it won't please you because you've been brainwashed by the conservatives-I feel kinda sorry for you....well not really!

thank you I think you need a good dose of reality along with your other buddies. Do yourself a favor and get Spike Lee's documentary on hurricane Katrina-when the levees broke four hours of interviews with residents-white and black, who give you a really raw description of what they know and they live there.

of it we ought to watch you you rant and rave kinda like the VT killer spewing a whole lot of hate to people you don't even know. You need therapy from the sounds of it and while your at it anger management. You have to cuss to get your point across? You have to degrade people you don't even know? You have to wish bad on other's to make yourself feel better? Well I'll tell you one thing karma can be a b***h and with any justice you'll see his cellie first and then you can be known as "just another gay republican conservative" oh but wait I think thats been used by the current administration already.

try to go really slow for you. 1. Yes it is hard to find a job even after 1 felony that will support you so are you prepared to give those with 1 felony a job if not you are part of the reoffender problem.2. Yes alot of them have had no family support and are uneducated and yes have made a bad choice but that does not mean that with rehabilitation and counseling that they can't become the opposite. 3. I'm glad that you realize that 60% of inmates who are incarcerated for long periods of time begin to think of this as home so maybe you can be part of the solution to break this way of thinking instead of just bitching on this site about it. 4. If it is any of your buisness my situation is that my stepson died from an accidental drowning at age 12 on a school field trip. The chaperone watching the pool could not swim and therefore watched him drown and when pulled out left him choking on his own vomit on the side of the pool naked. Got it so far? So afterwards my husband in his thirties a good father a full time manager who has worked since age 16 and never been in trouble with the law began drinking heavily to stop the nightmares he was having about his son screaming for his help while drowning. We tried helplessly to get him help but his anger at the situation and the fact that noone was held responsible and that he could not bring his son back grew. We tried talking, intervention, counseling, and nothing worked he had been totally consumed with this death. So when he got into an argument with someone he beat them up badily but in the town of monroe where just being black is a jailable enough offense so that coupled with the incident got him on a first offense five years minimum. Now I'm not excusing what he did and contrary to what you might think neither is he. He has finished his classes (assault offenders, substance abuse) and had no incidents while incarcerated he has worked everyday to deal and come to grips with his sons death, and has began to map out a plan to own his own buisness when he is released. He reads self help books attends meetings and we visit him every other week. He is extremely remorseful for what he did and if he could he would change it but he can't. Do I want these bills for him and those like him-YES do I think I'm wrong for this-NO because there are alot of people who can change and who's situation is not just black and white there are alot of inmates who do what they are suppose to do and who want to come out and do well so five days off every month to me is not that much especially when its only for those who are trying to do right.

Well I will tell you this I wasn't ther when it was committed and didn't know about it until the day they came for him. He's been incarcerated since so no he hasn't been living here. But I will tell you this holla back at me when after your child drowns you lose it and beat somebody up and recieve on a first offense five years and we'll talk about what you would do okay. Those who don't walk in my shoes won't understand and frankly I'm not asking you to. This was a man who worked hard everyday supporting his family legally and never had any brushes with the law until after the death of his son so why when he was here for me would I leave him high and dry after making a uncharacteristic bad choice after the death of his son? I write him everyday and visit him every other weekend so that he can know that I know that he spent thirty years without getting into trouble and that he is remorseful for the horrible decision he made. Unlike you I judge everyone on an individual basis and until I know their story in full I pass no judgement I don't comment on what I don't know I like to make my comments based on knowing not just being ignorant and hateful!

UNLIKE EVERYBODY ELSE ON THE PLANET, he takes his grief out on another person? please tell us what OTHER forms of mental abnormality this man showed? it must have been a helluva beating to get five years for it. was it anybody he knew, or was it just a random innocent that he SNAPPED ON? i'm amazed that he got five years for simply venting his frustrations... how serious WAS this beating?

try to go really slow for you. 1. Yes it is hard to find a job even after 1 felony that will support you so are you prepared to give those with 1 felony a job if not you are part of the reoffender problem. [it's very hard to find a job in michigan even if you are NOT a felon. that is a fact. just because you are a felon doesn't mean that ANYONE SHOULD JUST GIVE YOU A JOB. a job is EARNED. everyone else does it, felons just have another obstacle to overcome, it really sucks that they put those extra obstacles in their own path.] 2. Yes alot of them have had no family support and are uneducated and yes have made a bad choice but that does not mean that with rehabilitation and counseling that they can't become the opposite. [no family support has NOTHING to do with it. millions of people have no family support and THEY don't commit crimes. stop using lack of family support as an excuse to commit crimes. it doesn't work. being uneducated is HIS FAULT, as he was offered a FREE EDUCATION that he didn't take advantage of, and the MILLIONS OF UNEDUCATED PEOPLE are getting pretty pissed that you are using SELF INFLICTED IGNORANCE as an excuse to commit crimes. you DID hit the third one RIGHT ON THE HEAD. they ALL make bad choices, some make MANY OF THEM. did those BAD CHOICES make them bad people? YES. that's why we put them in jail.] 3. I'm glad that you realize that 60% of inmates who are incarcerated for long periods of time begin to think of this as home so maybe you can be part of the solution to break this way of thinking instead of just bitching on this site about it. [are you suggesting that we don't incarcerate prisoners? NO. are you suggesting that we make prison more HOME LIKE? NO. how about we make prison SO VILE AND REPUGNANT that no SANE person would EVER WANT TO GO THERE? i'd say that sounds like a GOOD IDEA.] 4. If it is any of your buisness my situation is that my stepson died from an accidental drowning at age 12 on a school field trip. The chaperone watching the pool could not swim and therefore watched him drown and when pulled out left him choking on his own vomit on the side of the pool naked. Got it so far? [yeah, i got that your husband experienced a truama, so have millions of other people. it's what he DID about it that makes your husband an inmate.] So afterwards my husband in his thirties a good father a full time manager who has worked since age 16 and never been in trouble with the law began drinking heavily to stop the nightmares he was having about his son screaming for his help while drowning. We tried helplessly to get him help but his anger at the situation and the fact that noone was held responsible and that he could not bring his son back grew. We tried talking, intervention, counseling, and nothing worked he had been totally consumed with this death. [everything good so far... let's see what happens next.] So when he got into an argument with someone he beat them up badily[THIS sounds like the product of a RATIONAL THOUGHT PROCESS, don't you think? didn't any of the counselors label him a danger to himself and others?] but in the town of monroe where just being black is a jailable enough offense [another excuse, it's racially offensive and UNTRUE, so stop using it.] so that coupled with the incident got him on a first offense five years minimum. [again, using his race as an excuse is vile and reprehensible, and i'm sure your son would be offended by it. your husband got five years because he DESERVED five years.] Now I'm not excusing what he did and contrary to what you might think neither is he. [no, you aren't excusing what he did, you are just asking US TO. you want us to make it legal to let him go free before his sentence is up.] He has finished his classes (assault offenders, substance abuse) and had no incidents while incarcerated he has worked everyday to deal and come to grips with his sons death, and has began to map out a plan to own his own buisness when he is released. He reads self help books attends meetings and we visit him every other week. He is extremely remorseful for what he did and if he could he would change it but he can't. [his opportunity to change came exactly when EVERY OTHER OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE did, just BEFORE he committed his crime. he didn't take advantage of it. he didn't do what MILLIONS OF OTHER REASONABLE PEOPLE IN HIS SITUATION DID. no he is NOT the first person to lose a son tragically, and he won't be the last, but he took his grief out on an innocent person, violently. where would YOU have been if that innocent person would have killed him while defending his life from him? you would have TWO deaths to deal with. he never thought of THAT either, did he?] Do I want these bills for him and those like him-YES do I think I'm wrong for this-NO [of course you don't] because there are alot of people who can change and who's situation is not just black and white [it's funny that you mention 'BLACK AND WHITE' here, as you tried to make this a BLACK AND WHITE thing earlier. make up your mind to quit using race as an excuse.] there are alot of inmates who do what they are suppose to do and who want to come out and do well so five days off every month to me is not that much especially when its only for those who are trying to do right. [but it's NOT just for those who are "DOING RIGHT", it's now for EVERY INMATE, NO MATTER WHAT. i'd be a lot more supportive of it if it WERE just for those with no disciplinary time. that little bit has been taken out by the AMENDMENT TO THE BILL. it's not FAIR that violent offenders get the benefit of this bill, it's not FAIR that disciplinary offenders get the benefit of this bill.] when you are in jail, it's A LITTLE TOO LATE TO START DOING THE 'RIGHT THING'. he SHOULD have been doing the right thing all along, like millions of others who aren't in jail. he made a SERIES OF BAD DECISIONS. he took a tragedy and, instead of seeking justice, took violence on an innocent. in every death penalty case, the victims family is denied justice for at least twenty years. imagine being consumed with the death of your loved one for that long, waiting for justice, for closure. some NEVER GET IT. what your husband did wasn't what he SHOULD have done. he violated society as much as he violated the victim of his wrath. that victim will have to live forever wondering what HE did to deserve the beating that he got. you will have to live forever wondering if the next beating he gives will be YOURS. no amount of rehabilitation will stop that. no amount of education will stop that. no amount of counseling will stop that. think about that as you fall asleep next to him every night.

each other on a regular basis, but because they are drug dealers, not college students, and because they do it every day, you never hear about it.

version of the events. i live there. i saw what happened. the reason you don't hear much about new orleans now is that the black people are ashamed of their black mayor. HE let the people back in, instead of making them stay out for a week like the federal government asked him to. HE allowed thousands of people to die. HE ordered peoples UNDAMAGED homes to be ransacked, looking to ILLEGALLY CONFISCATE LEGALLY OWNED WEAPONS. HE should be tried and jailed, but he won't, because he's black. and the governor, "blank stare" blanco should be right beside him. you have a lot of nerve complaining about what happens in THAT chocolate city when you won't take care of what's happening in YOURS.

that releasing inmates will bring michigan back to the rightful place it once had? do you think that it will cure all the money woes this state has? the democrats put us in this situation, and you plan on perpetuating the grief. thank you for putting us in the toilet.

"over sentenced" then file a 1985 suit through the federal courts on 8th amendment grounds of 'cruel and unusual punishment'. if, indeed, he WAS 'oversentenced' that should solve the problem. wasn't this brought up on APPEALS??? or did you even TRY to appeal based on those grounds???

the person who calls itself "crazycajun" crows a lot here about having moved from New Orleans, LA to Michigan. but now that same poster claims to live in New Orleans. so which is it? does this guy live in Michigan or New Orleans, or just yo-yo back and forth to suit his/her/its current post? inconsistencies in the story a subject tells are indicitaors that ... well, you know ... some fibbing may be going on. any good investigator knows that.

i visit new orleans at least once a month, sometimes more. i plan on moving back as soon as my house is finished. i'm going back next week to attend my daughters wedding. you couldn't investigate your way out of the mens room.

i hired ten people from michigan to come down work on my house. they are having a ball... and being paid well. two of them have bought land and are working to build their own homes there. at least there is WORK there. you may want to look into it when all the jobs are gone here.

you, in your LIMITED experience have observed inconsistancies where actually none exist. i am in contact with several people who came up here from louisiana, most from the new orleans area, who ALL bounce back and forth from here to there. that has NOTHING to do with the truthfulness of the people, and i wonder what YOUR problem is for thinking so. also, it is RUDE to refer to a poster as "IT". or didn't your mother teach you that? obviously not. as a retired state employee, i'm ashamed that one of our schools turned out someone as uneducated and insensitive as you. you obviously have nothing better to say, other than to tear down those that disagree with you. i believe that the term TROLL fits YOU BEST. i've been to new orleans several times, before and after the storm. i plan on going several times more. i have tickets to the JAZZ AND HERITAGE FESTIVAL and am looking forward to staying with one of the families that i met when i travelled there to help after the storm. after listening to your rude remarks, i might just have to change my mind and buy some property their myself. hurricanes are better than the bunch of windbags in michigan. lynn kangas. rose city, michigan.

the poster who stated that "being black was almost a jailable offense" threw my family into a fit of rage. i'm personally insulted that this woman, in this day and age would use the color of her skin to excuse violent behavior in her husband. i'm also personally insulted that this woman would use the lack of a FREE EDUCATION, to which everyone, regardless of skin color, has access to. i'm insulted enough when WHITE PEOPLE do it to us, saying that 'simply because black people commit most of the crimes, ALL black people are criminals', it's EVEN MORE insulting when black people buy into this way of thinking. i KNOW that a majority of black people are good, honest, hard working people. i also KNOW that there are those who are not. i don't allow MY OWN CHILDREN to use the color of their skin to keep them down, and i certainly won't accept anything less from any other black people. we don't need you thinking and speaking like white people did before the emancipation proclamation, we need you thinking and speaking like we are PEOPLE. not better, not worse, but EQUAL. how can we be equal if YOU DON'T THINK THAT WE ARE? how can we teach our children to look the world in the eye if we ALSO teach them that they have three strikes against them before they open their mouths? we don't need the 'WHITE DEVIL' to keep us down, people who think like this woman are doing a good enough job without them. you just keep on believing that RACIST CRAP and someone will be teaching you how to pick cotten pretty soon.

umm.. i guess your right because white unmarried men between ages 35-45 are the world number one murderes!da da da! i think racism is dumb because i have lots of black friend and there really nice. hope that makes u feel better plz reply.

i just reviwed your post again and i would like to say that people are in a lot worse position than u. the salves were slaves for thousands of years and so were the jews but i understand wat u are sating.

I never said that the v.t killer was in jail. IF you would actually read what I wrote it said that the V.T killer got out of the MENTAL HOSPITAL early for his good behavior. Not once in that sentece did I say jail. I was trying to make a comparison of what we can look forward to when we let criminals out early. Hell I could go and commit a crime and then go to jail and be good. thats not to hard. Then just get out and be free to do it again. I think I wasnt streching for infomation at all. It was just a case of you not reading it for infomation but you reading it and transforming it into what you wanted to hear.

the REST OF THE WORLD. i'm worried about MICHIGAN. look at who's killing whom in detroit, flint, and elsewhere around the state.

KIND OF STUPID, but they are allowed to vote anyway.

early sends the WRONG message. it tells criminals that they WILL NOT BE PUNISHED FOR THEIR CRIMES. it tells criminals that ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS WAIT A FEW YEARS, AND THEY WILL BE RELEASED. it tells FUTURE CRIMINALS that they can go ahead and commit all the crimes they want, as we are losing the WILL to punish them as well. this ENCOURAGES crime. along with closing prisons, which ATTRACTS criminals from elsewhere. soon, we will be a STATE FULL OF CRIMINALS with nowhere to put them. all we will be able to do is either leave, or be victimized.

Don't Go. We Need More Like You Here.

let IT go! bye-bye crazycajun Michigan doesn’t need to be populated by out-of-state agitators who build and rebuild their homes at or about sea level in flood-prone hurricane country and can’t keep the stories they post on the internet straight. we have enough home-grown fools to embarrass us and make Michigan living a lot more difficult than it has to be.

PROUD of them. your houses here are close to sea level, if you live around the lake. they are also close to the arctic circle no matter where you live. they have below ground basements because the houses are so small. people have 'michigan basements' that are all dirt, in the 21st century. your houses have to have sump pumps, because you, no matter how high above SEA LEVEL you are, you are STILL BELOW YOUR WATER TABLE. so water seeps into your basements and only ruins the bottom half of your houses, causing them to lean. you have industrial pollutants in your water, and idiots for elected officials. you have murderes in several of your largest cities, and the only SANE people (what few their are) live out in the hinterlands. the people i've met in person have welcomed me warmly, and will miss me when i'm gone. YOU on the other hand, were rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. i'll move back to louisiana eventually, but i'll STILL keep in touch on this site, kinda like jim. one of the first things i'm going to do after i move into my new house is go buy a new gun to protect it. i'm going to decide to buy it in the morning, go to my gun shop that morning, enjoy a cup of coffee while i fill out the paperwork, and have the results of my instant background check before the second cup is finished. then i'm going to take my gun to the range to sight it in, not to somebody who is going to register it for me. and then i'm going to take it home and clean it, not to somebody else who is going to 'safety inspect' it and register it again. on my way home, if somebody attempts to "car jack" me, i will be able to shoot him, because no only can i take my weapon with me ANYWHERE IN MY CAR, but I AM ALLOWED BY LAW TO SHOOT THE CAR JACKER. then, if, when i get home, i discover a BURGLAR in my home, i can LEGALLY SHOOT HIM TOO, as we have a SHOOT THE BURGLAR LAW as well. in any case, i am allowed to DEFEND MYSELF without having to RETREAT FIRST. all based on the BELIEF that my life is in danger. i'll have fairs and festivals to go to for the rest of the year, then, in winter, when all the snow is piling up here, we will have ANOTHER MARDI GRAS. a three hundred plus year old tradition that even a hurricane can't stop. we enjoy good food, and good times, and to tell you the truth, are pretty damn suspicious of those who don't. bon' chance.

till my house is ready, and i'll still have 'new family' up here. so i'll be 'IN AND OUT' REGULARLY. who knows, i might just start a 'party bus' business here before i go, with yearly trips to the 'french quarters'. if anyone wants to see what happens when you don't close the bars, buy your tickets now.

the friends i've made here, but, in TRUE CAJUN FASHION, i'm inviting them to my home whenever they want to visit. some are coming down for jazz fest, some are coming down for the bluegrass festival, some are coming down for the creole tomato festival, and a BUNCH are coming down for mardi gras. it's gonna be a full house, but a happy one.

about the money. it's obviously all about the DEMOCRATS LOVE FOR CRIMINALS. there are a hundred other ways that they could cut useless and needless programs, but the FIRST THING they do is FIRE COPS. the SECOND THING they do is RELEASE PRISONERS. the THIRD THING they do is CLOSE PRISONS. i think i'll go join CAJUN where they pay A LOT LESS per inmate per day, and their big industry is having fun.

do you propose to house all these newly released prisoners? they know nothing of being responsible, and less do they care. they know nothing of obeying the law, and less do they care. all they know or care about is what sent them to jail in the first place, be it drugs, violence, or murder. you already know that 60 percent or more of them are GOING to do something that will get them back into jail as soon as possible. i wonder how loud the wailing and gnashing of teeth will be when they do it to you? i hope you are satisfied when the cop you fired DOESN'T RESPOND TO YOUR 9-1-1 CALL. i hope you are satisfied when the JAIL you want the menaces sent back to is CLOSED and not taking any more prisoners. when they ask the question 'COULD THIS HAVE BEEN PREVENTED?", i want to see the face of the liberal that steps in front of the camera and says "YES, BUT WE DECIDED TO SAVE THE STATE SOME MONEY AND DO IT THIS WAY INSTEAD."

admit that i EVER WAS a liberal. the ideals that i held dear have been trampled on by the representatives that were supposed to be SERVING ME. our social services are a tangled mess, almost to the point of uselessness. our family courts are a JOKE. our unemployment and welfare programs do not prepare people to return to work, they prime them for a lifetime living on the system. our taxes are spent on ridiculous ideas like banning trapping, instead of fighting crime. more importance is put on the welfare of 'BIG EYED FURRY CRITTERS' as one poster called them than the HUMAN BEINGS who live in our cities. our states energy is more directed towards PUNISHING PEOPLE for making money than it is to punishing the people who murder our children. institutional ignorance, and arrogance is rampant in this state, and no amount of wishing will make that go away. only by voting for those who WILL change can we step out of this hell hole we have had created around us while we watched. maybe it's the FACTORY MENTALITY that causes people to only look forward to QUITTING TIME. we, as a people, allow ourselves to QUIT CARING far too easily. we constantly moan about how NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE. WELL, IF NO ONE DOES ANYTHING ABOUT A PROBLEM THAT IS ENTIRELY CORRECT. if ALL OF US worked to SOLVE THE PROBLEM, and quit accepting the nay-sayers and money hoarders advice, we could fix all the problems in michigan in a few years. it would be tough, we'd all have to become MORE RESPONSIBLE for what we say, do, and the laws we enact. we couldn't just 'pass the buck' and quit like we used to. i don't know about you, but I'M not giving up, and if it takes voting for a republican conservative to get the job done, i'm willing to make THAT sacrifice too.

cussing to make your point... just use the little dots... that's original... idiot.

that an education wasn't AVAILABLE in jail. i though you said that the state DIDN'T HAVE THE MONEY TO FUND THE NECESSARY CLASSES. then, this woman says that her husband not only got the necessary courses, but EARNED A DEGREE AT STATE EXPENSE. so, which if you is LYING? i have to believe that if the state is paying over a hundred dollars a day to keep inmates, that they are EDUCATING THEM WITH SOME OF THAT MONEY. now, do YOU want to pay for someone else's education, when you had to pay for your own (unless you defaulted on your student loans)? i know that it's too much to expect that they should have taken advantage of educational opportunities BEFORE THEY WENT TO PRISON, and that it's completely out of the question to expect them to CONTINUE THEIR EDUCATION AFTER THEY ARE RELEASED. they, by several poster's own admission, are too ignorant, poor, and set in their ways to do anything else but commit crimes. all we can do is release them early again when they return to jail and give them a fifty third "SECOND CHANCE".

in your stories, i don't believe anything you say anymore. the inmates are lounging around in well lit, well ventilated, heated and cooled cells, eating gourmet meals, and enjoying conjugal visits every friday and saturday night. you guys CAN'T GET YOUR STORIES STRAIGHT, so you must all be lying. that seems to be the way things are around here. if it works for you, it will certainly work for me. live with it.

when you come to the city I hope you never have expected a response when you call 911 because the police have stopped responding years ago unless someone is dead so that won't change any now. You all still haven't responded to why you cry when she raises taxes and then still turn around and cry again when she does what you asked her to do and cut? I don't really think you know what you want, your just crying because its not tricky dick in there trying to take away all of our womanly rights to our bodies. You can't cry about raising taxes if you want her not to cut anything it doesn't make sense just like alot of the republican viewpoints don't. Hypocrites and cry if you do and cry if you don'ts types fabulous! Fuerthermore many of these inmates have completed the new reentry program which helps find new housing and jobs for them, many of those have for years been done and able for release and trust me before they release them they do a home study to wherever it is they will be staying. Be knowledgeable about things besides the media's bloated statistics before you comment research and study reality instead of what your republican brainwasher's feed you.

if we don't release those who are already eligible we are going to run out of beds by September and then maybe we can build a new jail next to your pretty subburban neighborhood and pay for it by cutting the budgets for your kids school districts because the ssubburban schools get too much help now, sounds good to me.

I'm so glad that maybe you got such in a fit of rage that you will get up off your ass and see the world for what it is lady. First of all as I've already stated I'm not excusing jack he did his fault, his bad choice, his incarceration, merely was I pointing out that it didn't help any where it was committed. Stay your black ass out of monroe, nigger this and that were only a little of the nice comments we all heard while in that wonderful city. If I wanted to make it an excuse I would have said that he was innocent and only accused because he was black merely was I saying that as a first offense typically the sentence for his crime is not what he recieved for various reasons and none being a prior record. You seem to live in a fog and if you don't wake up YOU may be the one picking cotton as my grandmother used to because when you don't acknowledge the reality of the world you end up repeating it. My advice to you is to take as many black history classes as you can and let someone educated tel;l you how much our society has improved, and before you tell me to do the same I major in it so I have. I don't speak on what I have not educated myself about so maybe your family can do that and see where your rage goes then.