The 1986 statutes mandate a fixed sentence for individuals convicted of a crime regardless of culpability or other mitigating factors. The only way to reduce one’s sentence is to provide information to the prosecution that will lead to the conviction of other offenders. This incentive rewards the kingpins the laws were allegedly set up to punish — after all, they have the most information and therefore the most bargaining power — while ensuring long sentences for the low-level female workers who are too loyal, afraid, or uninformed to rat out their male partners and bosses.
“The mere fact that a woman has lived in a house where her boyfriend or husband has stored drugs, or driven him to the bank, or taken phone messages from his associates, however unwittingly, is enough to convict her. There have been cases where prosecutors haven’t even had to prove that a woman knew she was committing any of these acts. A finding that she should have known what her man was up to has been enough to secure a conspiracy conviction.”
Amen. And if you know me I don't have to say another word.
Politics
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