Peter Kema Sr pleads Guilty to manslaughter.

[Kenney]

Good question Obie. Mitch is right. All the Prisons in the State are overcrowded to bursting. There's no place else to house felons. Plea bargains save time and $ and insure some admission of guilt and punishment vs possibility of Defendant "walking" if found innocent.

[kalakoa]

Roth could make some room by not sending marijuana cultivators to prison

Mitch doesn't make the laws.

[alaskyn66]

quote:

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Originally posted by Chunkster

Maybe, but don't you think they should find room for Peter Kema, Sr.? Also, Roth could make some room by not sending marijuana cultivators to prison as he continues to do.

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Still plenty of room at Saguaro Correctional Center in arizona. I'm sure CCA would love to have Mr. Kema as a guest.

[Chunkster]

"Mitch doesn't make the laws."

True, but he does have discretion about what level of sentencing to seek and what level of charge to prosecute. If he can accept a plea bargain that can let a murderer off with as little as six and a half years in prison, why not be as generous (or more) with pot growers?

Mitch Roth is a sincere and likable guy, but he needs to reorder his priorities somewhat. My cynical side sometimes thinks the money from property confiscation and federal marijuana suppression programs has something to do with those priorities.

"Still plenty of room at Saguaro Correctional Center in arizona. I'm sure CCA would love to have Mr. Kema as a guest."

Exactly!

[kalakoa]

If he can accept a plea bargain that can let a murderer off with as little as six and a half years in prison, why not be as generous (or more) with pot growers?

I'll ask him, but the answer probably has to do with the quality/quantity of evidence, which is usually pretty cut-and-dried where marijuana cultivation is involved.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

pretty cut-and-dried where marijuana cultivation is involved.

Don't forget, manicured.

You could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven.

[kalakoa]

I suddenly remembered that marijuana is an automatic Federal felony with mandatory minimums that leave very little room for "prosecutorial discretion".

Example: possession above a certain quantity (usually 1 ounce) is automatically "intent to distribute" regardless of context -- but for a heavy burner, an ounce could easily be "personal", and might only last a week or two (or a single evening with enough friends!)

Most other crimes (including murder) come with "extenuating circumstances" that may include "intent" and "mindset", along with the "quality of evidence" issues.

[Guest]

It now looks like The state of Hawaii may be sued for their part in the death of Peter boy, some 20 years later.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/clip/132571...boys-death

What things could or should have been done by the state of Hawaii to help protect Peter boy and his other brother and sister some 20 years ago?

[kalakoa]

What things could or should have been done by the state

As usual, they merely had to "follow their own rules".

Unfortunately for us taxpayers, "rules are hard".

[Kenney]

CPS KNEW there was a problem with Peter Boy's parents but they took him away from his Grandparents (where he was loved and protected) and placed him back in his parent's custody. Was that protecting him?

20 years later that child's beautiful face still brings me to tears.