Five years in prison for homeless mom that sent her child to school

[mfcorey1]

Apparently she sent him to the "wrong" school, which was the school she thought would give her child the best education. She had no home so there wasn't an address she could say the child lived at. But instead of accepting a child with a parent motivated to give their child an education her homelessness was criminalized and she was found guilty of stealing a free education.

I'm sure her melanin composition had nothing to do with it. /snark

A mother who pleaded guilty to fraudulently enrolling her six-year-old son in the wrong school district has been sentenced to five years in prison.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/04/1252945/-Five-years-in-prison-for-homeless-mom-that-sent-her-child-to-school

[Fumesucker]

1. Meanwhile torturers and war criminals walk free with no threat of prosecution n/t

[lame54]

44. and bankers

[Turbineguy]

2. For a lower cost

society could pay rent, pay for all other expenses for both of them. When your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

[Recursion]

3. Well, also for selling drugs

The state should have just dropped the "larceny" charge, then...

[B Calm]

4. She also pleaded guilty to four counts of sale of narcotics

which will be included in her prison sentence.

I think the war on drugs is the reason for her long jail sentence.

[joshcryer]

5. She got 12 total with 5 years suspended.

I think the larceny charge is what put her in jail. She should have got 5 years suspended on the drug charge.

[dotymed]

9. In the link, there was no mention of drug selling.

Larceny means theft. In this case it is the "theft" of a "free education", which is guaranteed to all.
Do you have the link about the drug sells?

It's kind of like when the serfs dared to hunt in "the kings forest."
1) So what that she sent her son where he might get a better education...

2) Even IF (I still have not seen the link) she did sell drugs to help support herself and her son, so what? The CIA sells tons of them to support their EVIL agenda.

What about the poppy (opium) fields that our troops die protecting in Afghanistan? Who do you think the (probably) heroin is for?

America is a failed experiment. It was doomed for failure. Just for the wealthy, it got worse. Only FDR made a difference, just like Bernie Sanders can, he IS the FDR of our time.

[B Calm]

10. Yes it was there. You had to click on the story.

The 34-year-old, who was homeless when she was charged with felony larceny last year, said she wanted the best education possible for the boy.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2108733/Homeless-mother-Tanya-McDowell-sent-son-6-better-school-wrong-town-jailed-years.html

[The Wizard]

14. If the education was free

why the harsh sentence?

[Recursion]

18. Again, it's a combined sentence for "larceny" and selling drugs

And it's not broken down into how much is for what "crime".

[whopis01]

36. 5 years for the larceny, 12 years for the narcotics to run concurrently.

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Tanya-McDowell-sentenced-to-5-years-in-prison-3437974.php

[Recursion]

17. Read the link at the article.

She's being sentenced for both the larceny charge and 4 counts of narcotics sales.

Now, if Recursion were king, these would be two things that would not be illegal (assuming she was selling the drugs to adults), but in this world, they both are. I was mostly surprised that they went ahead with the larceny charge when they had enough for her to nolo on the drugs charge.

The CIA sells tons of them to support their EVIL agenda.

You should email Sy Hersh; he's been looking for a smoking gun on that for years.

[questionseverything]

47. huh?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/archive/gunsdrugscia.html

more recently

http://rt.com/op-edge/mi6-cia-tax-money-drugs-941/

There is also a significant overlap between the corrupt political establishment and the illegal drug trade, up to and including the president's late brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai. So, another unintentional consequence may be that some of this unaccountable ghost money is propping up the drug trade.

Afghanistan is the world's leading producer of heroin, and the UN reports that poppy growth has increased dramatically. Indeed, the UN estimates that acreage under poppy growth in Afghanistan has tripled over the last 7 years. The value of the drug trade to the Afghan warlords is now estimated to be in the region of $700 million per year. You can buy a lot of Kalashnikovs with that.

On the one hand, we have Western governments bankrupting themselves to fight the 'war on terror,' breaking international laws and murdering millions of innocent people across North Africa, the Middle East and central Asia, while at the same time shredding what remains of our hard-won civil liberties at home.

On the other hand, we apparently have MI6 and the CIA secretly bankrolling the very people in Afghanistan who produce 90 percent of the world's heroin. And then, of course, more scarce resources can be spent on fighting the failed 'war on drugs,' and yet another pretext is used to shred our civil liberties.

This is a lucrative economic model for the burgeoning military-security complex. However, it is a lose-lose scenario for the rest of us.

[joshcryer]

6. Had they dropped it she would be free now, I think.

So they had to make a point.

[Recursion]

16. No, there was still the narcotics charge

I'm saying they had enough for her to plead no contest on that, so I don't see why they went ahead with the larceny charge.

[joshcryer]

21. She got 12 years, was in jail 2 years, got 5 years imprisoned, 5 years suspended.

Had they dropped either the larceny charge or the drug charge, she'd be free. It's an either or proposition, imo. I think the drug charge is as bad as the larceny charge. But if they dropped any one of them, I think she'd be free.

So basically, the schools are worse, imo, because it was an innocent crime. The drug charge of course should be thrown out as well because the war on drugs is shit. But should we see schooling as ... equal to drugs?

To me the school charge should've been dropped. And she should be free.

[msanthrope]

40. She had a prior narcotics charge, the pimping...the 4 new narcotics charges....and the larceny.

She was selling drugs during her son's birthday party....and she wasn't homeless when she did that....



http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Affidavit-Tanya-McDowell-offered-to-sell-drugs-1421618.php

[joshcryer]

7. Two related threads on this:

This is DU's first reaction to her arrest: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x918882

This is DU's reaction to another black mother who had a similar thing happen: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x269707

Good old redlining.

[newfie11]

8. I am speechless

The the hell!!!!
This is not the country I grew up in. I don't even recognize it any more.

[MADem]

11. Ya know, if the quality of your education didn't depend on where you lived, this wouldn't be a

problem. If the child who lived in Highcrimeville got the exact same quality of education, down to books, teachers, facilities, opportunities for enrichment, etc., that the little darlings in Stinkingrichmoneytown got, no one would feel a need to take risks, play games, etc.

That said, I don't understand how a woman who is "homeless" is in the "wrong" district for school services. You can be homeless anywhere, fachrissake.

[joshcryer]

22. Agreed, states should compile ALL education income into one pool.

No more fucking "redlining."

[msanthrope]

41. She wasn't homeless when she was selling drugs during her kids b-day party...or offering

to pimp girls to an undercover cop...

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Affidavit-Tanya-McDowell-offered-to-sell-drugs-1421618.php

This is a non-tabloid source.....

[MADem]

43. She may be a messed up human being, but the point about schools that I made remains germane.

If the education in Fancytown is the same quality as the education in Shitsville, there would be no motivation for parents to try to game the system and slide their kid into a "better" school.

[msanthrope]

46. Oh...I agree in the point abour schools. it should be common funding at the state level

with reasonable adjustments for heavily populated areas.

[blackspade]

12. Killers get less time!

Is there no reason in sentencing anymore? (rhetorical question...)

[Recursion]

19. It includes 4 narcotics counts

It's already infamously true that narcotics sales can get you a longer jail term than manslaughter.

[joshcryer]

23. But she got 12 years 5 years suspended 5 years jail.

She spent 2 years in jail. Without the larceny charge of 5 years she should've got 5 years suspended.

[Recursion]

24. The sentence isn't broken down like that

The judge didn't say which part of that sentence was for what.

[joshcryer]

26. True, but, in all due respect, math.

7 for drugs, 5 for larceny, 2 in jail, 5 suspended.

Not trying to be an ass. Maybe she would've got 3 more years. Still. She got shafted. Neither the drug or larceny charges are legit.

[Recursion]

27. Hey, if I were king neither of those would be illegal

Unless she was selling to a 12 year old or something.

I'm just pushing back against the idea that the five years is "for sending her daughter to school" rather than "for selling drugs and sending her daughter to school".

[joshcryer]

29. It could be either though!

Neither which is defensible, imo.

After the drug charge the other charge should've been dropped, imo.

[allGoodThings]

38. The 12 year sentence had nothing to do with the school issue.

They were two separate cases and she was sentenced separately.

She received a 5 year sentence for the school larceny. Then in the drug case she received a 12 year sentence (2 served, 5 to be served, 5 on probation).

I think that the sentences are concurrent - but not sure about that.

[joshcryer]

49. So she's serving 10 years total?

The wording on the article implies it was 12 total for both the drug and larceny charges, 5 years served, 5 on probation, 2 served.

If you believe that the 12 year sentence has nothing to do with the school issue then she's getting 10 years total.

[allGoodThings]

50. I think the two sentences are concurrent

So it is 5 for the drugs and 5 for the larceny - but served together.

[LWolf]

15. When our students become homeless,

and it happens to some every year, we go out of our way to keep them with us no matter where they are sleeping. To the point of other parents taking in the kids for the school year while the homeless parent deals with getting life back on track, to staff setting up car pools to drive to the shelter in the next town, and back, every day to provide transportation.

And melanin has nothing to do with it.

[Doremus]

20. Prison for homeless mom, fat bank accounts for public school pillagers.

Business as usual for Upsidedown Land.

[allGoodThings]

37. Maybe it is time to rethink your prejudices. n/t

[gopiscrap]

28. that's so fucked up!

[Brigid]

30. I fear this country is in its death throes.

Moms sending their kids to school accused of larceny, elderly abandoned in closed-down nursing homes, any public place a potential shooting gallery, endless wars -- I wonder if, even if we were to break out the torches and pitchforks today, it is too late.

[juajen]

33. Education was the key, and it failed miserably.

Too many Republicans ran for local spots on school boards, etc., and took over the schools and the curriculum. Also, got into local offices in every county and/or parish. When this happens, it doesn't matter who's Governor or who's running state government, and local Clerks of Court control the voting process.

Our school board was taken over, and before you could even find out what was going on, they were taking steps to turn schools into charter schools, etc. The teachers are told to teach to the tests and forget education in general. No sign of critical thinking or the relevance of history, math a d science. After all, if it's not in the bible, it just didn't happen. No dinosaurs in the bible, ergo, no dinosaurs.

So many people now are educated by Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. They know no facts, and are belligerent if you question their sources. It's mind control, simply put. Also, with the advent of computers, smart phones and kindles, etc., most homes don't even have books any more, and some had few to begin with.

Education is being destroyed by, some degree, by modern technology. Though it is great to have facts at our fingertip, most people don't realize that Wikipedia is easily manipulated, and, just because it's on the net, "don't make it so."

[Freddie Stubbs]

32. Local taxpayers pay to educate their community's children, not other community's children

There was a school which she should have sent her child to. But she chose to lie and send her children elsewhere, essentially stealing from a community where she did not live. The fact that she was a drug dealer does not make her a very sympathetic figure.

[JCMach1]

34. No sympathy for "5 FREAKING YEARS???"

that's unreal...

[Blue_Tires]

35. um...WHAT THE FUCKING HELL????

[LittleBlue]

39. 5 years for homelessness, 0 for torture

0 for Wall Street, 0 for spying on Americans, etc.

We got it loud and clear: laws don't apply to the elites, only to us.

[TeamPooka]

42. This is my hometown. I am ashamed even though I havent lived there for decades.

[joeybee12]

45. Phucking insane...knr

[indepat]

48. 'murika, 'murika, home of the free and land of the brave, of thee I sing