Posted on 09/20/2007 3:27:17 PM PDT by secretagent
TALLAHASSEE -- Richard Paey is a chronic pain patient in year three of a 25-year mandatory-minimum sentence for trafficking in drugs -- his own pain medication.
But his freedom is just hours away.
Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet voted unanimously to grant Paey a full pardon Thursday morning for his 2004 conviction on drug trafficking and possession charges.
"We aim to right a wrong and exercise compassion and to do it with grace," the governor said. "Congratulations ... and I state he should be released today."
With that, Paey's wife Linda, their three children, a family friend and attorney John Flannery II hugged and cried at the podium, the entire cabinet meeting room erupting into applause at 9:40 a.m.
It was a stunning turn in the long saga of Paey, a 48-year-old Hudson man who suffers debilitating pain from a 1985 car wreck, botched back surgery and multiple sclerosis that has left him needing the use of a wheelchair in prison.
He was first arrested in 1997 and convicted on the third try in 2004 of possessing, trafficking and illegally obtaining the medication he needs for the searing, fiery pain in his back and legs.
His supporters still contest every bit of the state's case and today, they finally found sympathetic ears eager to help. His medical condition is real, they told the cabinet, evidenced by the amoung of painkillers the Department of Corrections itself now gives to Richard Paey every day.
(Excerpt) Read more at sptimes.com ...
His own. You are only allowed to have a certain amount of pain med. He had more.
If you have over 40? pills more than your current prescription, they try you in FL as a trafficker. And it’s a minimum of 20 years. I think that’s it.
I don't know about that.
His doctor said he forged prescriptions, and Paey says his doctor lied to protect his license from the capricious laws on "over-prescription".
The prosecution says Paey had blank prescription forms.
“The prosecution says Paey had blank prescription forms.”
Perhaps, those kind of drugs are extremely addictive and doctors usually don’t care until you are hooked. This kinda guy gets 25 years and child rapers get out in 12. Something wrong with that.
Now they need to jail that tyrannical prosecutor for unlawful prosecution, like Nifong.
Ed
Yes, even most supporters of the WOD would agree, hence the pardon.
You mean Crist reversed his own handiwork?
I didn’t follow the Duke case much - didn’t Nifong break the law by withholding evidence favorable to the defense?
“Yes, even most supporters of the WOD would agree, hence the pardon.”
Crist is an idiot who plays to the lowest common denominator. Lets not forget he also supports restoring voting rights for criminals upon their release.
If a criminal pays his fines, restitution, and serves his sentence then he has paid his debt to society, has he not?
At that point why shouldn’t he have his rights restored?
Or do you advocate making a person pay his debt forever?
He was convicted of forging prescriptions, and he had 700 percocet tablets in his possession. I wouldn't call that "no crime at all." This guy wasn't, by any evidence presented, hoarding pills for recreational use, or passing them on to others, but he was participating in the illegal trade in controlled substances.
25 years was, of course, an absurd sentence, and when it took seven years and three trials to get a conviction, someone should have taken the hint and pleaded it out to a fine and probation. The kind of common sense, justice tempered with mercy that the governor and cabinet applied should have been should have been applied at the DA level.
But the War on (some) Drugs has brought up a whole generation of prosecutors, and for that matter legislators, who think it's ore important to be tough than smart. This is the natural outcome of a system that leans on mandatory minimums and three-strike laws, in the lunatic belief that if you can just make the laws tough enough, judges and juries will no longer have to use their brains or exercise judgment.
Sumpun like dat.
IF he has completed his sentence (including parole), and can convince the relevant officials that you're now a solid citizen and no longer a threat -- it shouldn't be automatic. And I would make it a one-shot deal -- if you petition to have your rights restored, and then are convicted of another felony, that's it. You already burned your second chance.
My dad's been in corrections for almost 40 years, and the dirty little secret is that rehabilitation does work -- obviously not for everyone, and obviously not every time, but a good program can cut the number of released felons who land back in prison from two in three to one in three. And that's not some airy-fairly liberal notion -- ask Mike Huckabee and Chuck Colson.
It's really not all that difficult to tell who's reformed and who hasn't, even though criminals are manipulative and lie as naturally as they breathe. When in doubt, reject the proposal and ask the felon to come back after a couple more clean years.
And there are, at least in some states, multiple steps to restore different rights -- for example, it's less dangerous (at least arguably) to allow a felon to vote or serve as an officer of a publicly-traded company than to own guns. I believe Georgi has one process for restoration of other rights, and a separate one for gun rights.
The bottom line is that it takes human judgment to make the determination -- and human judgment has never been more unfashionable in the criminal "justice" system than it is today. It's obvious to all of us that a flasher is not the same as a stalker, and a 20-year-old who has a back-seat rendezvous with a 17-year-old girlfriend is less dangerous than a pedophile. But they're side-by-side on the sex offender registry, because our half-assed Solons love lists and metrics and guidelines they can use to try to take all compassion, judgment and common sense out of the system.
Gee, can you tell this is a pet cause of mine?
If he has completed his sentence, including parole, then he shouldn’t have to persuade any one of anything. He has completed his sentence, he’s done.
If he still has steps to complete then he hasn’t paid his debt to society, has he?
Rehab won’t work if society keeps its boot on the ex con’s neck, now will it?
If he can’t be trusted with the vote or with a gun then perhaps he shouldn’t be out of prison, should he?
Bob Butterworth, democrat
He gave his ex-wife a gun after he divorced her. She then shot and killed their 16 year old son and herself on a Miami street.
Thank you for the ping, secretagent. This is wonderful news. This story was always very heartbreaking, and it’s great to see that the right thing was finally done.
traviskicks, this is a story that the ping list has followed in the past. I think they would be interested.
I don't think it's unreasonable to treat a convicted felon differently from other citizens. Most felons reoffend. The notion of treating ex-folons as permanently less trustworthy goes back to common law, and even biblical law. We stopped branding and amputating.
If he still has steps to complete then he hasn’t paid his debt to society, has he?
It's not a one-step process. The Constitution establishes that no one can be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Convicted felons have been deprived of liberty and property (not life, presumably because those folks are pretty quiet) under due process of law.
There is a reasonable presumption that a felon isn't a nice guy. He has surrendered his rights via due process. And if he wants to rejoin society as a full citizen, he has to make the case for a second chance.
If he still has steps to complete then he hasn’t paid his debt to society, has he?
If I borrow ten grand from you, and I bankrupt out of it, that vacates my debt. I can't make you loan me another ten grand. And if you do so, you're likely an idiot.
Rehab won’t work if society keeps its boot on the ex con’s neck, now will it?
Society won't work if society accepts ex-cons back with open arms. Most lie. Most are bad people. That is why we put them in prison. When they cross the prison threshold, they don't become our bestest buddies.
Rehab won’t work if society keeps its boot on the ex con’s neck, now will it?
Rehab won't work if you let the criminals off easy, either. We want to make felons better. We don't want to play patty-cake.
Butterworth was Attorney General at that time.
FL is a VERY dangerous place to live if you're old and/or disabled, if you have some $ and no nearby relatives. The legal profession has a scam going with the courts to make a living by ripping off defenseless people, becoming their appointed guardians, fleecing the marks after placing them in hospices and custodial homes, charging it all to the federal taxpayers, after making their assets vanish. Vanish = doling out the assets to everybody involved in the scam.
Interesting that you think it's swell that this guy was pardoned by some sleazy politician by groveling, begging and perhaps paying off someone for his freedom, yet you maintain he did nothing wrong to end up behind bars. Oh yeah, it's a great place to live if you don't mind being a serf.
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