This is the case I had in mind when I made my recent assertion that thought==action in today's "court". How can anyone see this case, and not conclude otherwise? This dude is going to spend a long time in stir, for a *pure Thought Crime*. Yours, J.A. Terranson sysadmin@mfn.org On Tue, 4 Sep 2001, Eric Cordian wrote:
Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2001 16:01:56 -0700 (PDT) From: Eric Cordian <emc@artifact.psychedelic.net> Reply-To: cypherpunks@ssz.com To: cypherpunks@einstein.ssz.com Subject: CDR: Naughty Journal Author Denied Plea Change
Not unsurprisingly, the judge has refused to permit a man sentenced to 10 years in prison for textual depictions of child sex in a private journal to withdraw his guilty plea and get a trial.
As F. Lee Bailey once said, the major flaw in the American justice system is that appeals focus only on procedural errors, and ones guilt or innocence is never again an issue after the original trial, even if that trial reached the wrong result.
Having concluded that all the i's were dotted and the t's crossed in the screwing of Mr. Dalton by the state of Ohio, justice proceeds merrily onward.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A man sentenced to prison for writing fantasies in his personal journal about torturing and molesting children cannot change his guilty plea, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Franklin County Judge Nodine Miller said Brian Dalton did not demonstrate a "manifest injustice" had taken place.
Dalton, 22, had asked to withdraw his guilty plea, saying it was not made knowingly or intelligently, and that he was expecting to be sentenced to treatment, not 10 years in prison.
The case alarmed experts in First Amendment and obscenity law, who believe Dalton is the first person in the country successfully prosecuted for simply writing what was judged to be child pornography. "Definitely this is a matter of grave constitutional concerns," said attorney Benson Wolman, a former executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Ohio chapter. He said he will ask the court to set aside Dalton's conviction, or file a delayed appeal.
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-- Yours, J.A. Terranson sysadmin@mfn.org If Governments really want us to behave like civilized human beings, they should give serious consideration towards setting a better example: Ruling by force, rather than consensus; the unrestrained application of unjust laws (which the victim-populations were never allowed input on in the first place); the State policy of justice only for the rich and elected; the intentional abuse and occassionally destruction of entire populations merely to distract an already apathetic and numb electorate... This type of demogoguery must surely wipe out the fascist United States as surely as it wiped out the fascist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The views expressed here are mine, and NOT those of my employers, associates, or others. Besides, if it *were* the opinion of all of those people, I doubt there would be a problem to bitch about in the first place... --------------------------------------------------------------------