Woman Gets Jail For Food-Stamp Fraud; Wall Street Fraudsters Get Bailouts

[Playinghardball]

From Rolling Stone

Had a quick piece of news I wanted to call attention to, in light of the recent developments at Zuccotti Park. For all of those who say the protesters have it wrong, and don’t really have a cause worth causing public unrest over, consider this story, sent to me by a friend on the Hill.

Last week, a federal judge in Mississippi sentenced a mother of two named Anita McLemore to three years in federal prison for lying on a government application in order to obtain food stamps.

Apparently in this country you become ineligible to eat if you have a record of criminal drug offenses. States have the option of opting out of that federal ban, but Mississippi is not one of those states. Since McLemore had four drug convictions in her past, she was ineligible to receive food stamps, so she lied about her past in order to feed her two children.

The total "cost" of her fraud was $4,367. She has paid the money back. But paying the money back was not enough for federal Judge Henry Wingate.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/woman-gets-jail-for-food-stamp-fraud-wall-street-fraudsters-get-bailouts-20111117#ixzz1e0U8a8PR

[redqueen]

1. Rec'd but still at zero. (nt)

[Ken Burch]

3. A lot of poorbashing "pro-business Democrats" are on DU.

They unrec'd this because they think they can STILL be Democrats even if they believe that the rich should get special legal privileges over the majority.

There's no other possible explanation, I'm afraid.

[redqueen]

5. I used to like to think it was trolls.

Ah well.

[The Magistrate]

2. A Truely Disgusting Story, Sir

[Obamanaut]

4. More here ->

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=2322623

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=2319827

[Newest Reality]

6. We cannot expect justice for ourselves

when cruel and unusual punishment is meted-out like that.

Can we now accept, without contempt, two Americas with two kinds of justice? Obviously, as we have been seeing, the more money you have the greater your potential for a favorable outcome.

That is NOT justice for the bulk of us and I think we should, at the very least, be concerned about how this affects us. While we may not be criminal in intent, it is possible to be implicated falsely and then be required to defend your freedom. If you walk-in with the balance tipped in favor of your financial means, you cannot expect Constitutionally protected rights and decent and fair results. WTF?

This is another place where our system needs total reform, or something in its place. When we include the frightening incentives for convictions and stiff sentences that are influenced by private prisons for both high profits and as good as free labor without worker's rights, it is difficult to feel safe or immune to the injustice that follows. Our overwhelming prison population is a horrific sign of our own fragile grasp on freedom in this prison building society.