Post by Cody Shea on Dec 31, 2005 20:19:22 GMT -5
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – After a series of fundraisers in the northeast, Senate Minority Leader Cody Shea (D-NC) returned to his home state of North Carolina to attend a DNC fundraiser held by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. The senator spoke to the assembled about the importance of respecting the legal rights of Americans.
"The criminal justice system of today has been hijacked by corporate interests. We’ve made a system that demonizes the blue-collar criminal who steals one purse or robs an ATM, but lionizes the white-collar embezzler who robs thousands of employees of their hard earned pensions"
"For decades we’ve seen the system become stacked against the everyman with mandatory minimums, stiffer sentences, and more difficult appeals. We’ve seen the prison population double since 1985, the bulk of which has been small-time drug offenders. These are people who should be getting treatment, not having their lives thrown away."
One of the key topics discussed was the death penalty and its future in the United States. The senator made clear his disagreement with the policy.
"The concept of state-sponsored vengeance is outdated and useless. There is nothing to prove it is a deterrent, nothing to show that is less costly, and in the end you have done nothing to bring back the victim, merely created another."
"It's time for us to move beyond this antiquity and join the rest of the civilized world."
"The criminal justice system of today has been hijacked by corporate interests. We’ve made a system that demonizes the blue-collar criminal who steals one purse or robs an ATM, but lionizes the white-collar embezzler who robs thousands of employees of their hard earned pensions"
"For decades we’ve seen the system become stacked against the everyman with mandatory minimums, stiffer sentences, and more difficult appeals. We’ve seen the prison population double since 1985, the bulk of which has been small-time drug offenders. These are people who should be getting treatment, not having their lives thrown away."
One of the key topics discussed was the death penalty and its future in the United States. The senator made clear his disagreement with the policy.
"The concept of state-sponsored vengeance is outdated and useless. There is nothing to prove it is a deterrent, nothing to show that is less costly, and in the end you have done nothing to bring back the victim, merely created another."
"It's time for us to move beyond this antiquity and join the rest of the civilized world."
