accidently carrying a gun in NJ worse than beating your wife UC. USA Today

[internet troll]

I know the case is being discussed elsewhere, but found this angle intriguing. The Judge and DA in the NJ carry case have previously gone out of their way to give a man who beat his wife unconscious a chance to avoid jail. Yet they are going out of their way to make Shaneen Allens life a living hell prosecuting her and messing with her any way they can.

Beating your wife unconscious. Vs . Misunderstanding the law and trying to do what you percieve as the right thing when pulled over by a cop. Admitting to carrying a gun that you have because you have been assaulted before.

Which is worse? In the eyes of that judge and DA it's not a physical assault. It just goes to show the evil that lies in the heart of some. I guess the wife who was beaten unconscious is lucky that she did not have a firearm to defend herself. They may have sentenced her to oblivion for using a gun against a violent predator who harmed her. These guys seriously make me sick with what they are doing to this woman.

Btw... she has surpassed her funding goal, but if anyone here wants to contribute, here is the site.

http://gogetfunding.com/project/shan...l-defense-fund


http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...lumn/13862831/

Carrying a gun way worse than beating your wife: Column

Glenn Harlan Reynolds, USATODAY

When Ray Rice beat his wife unconscious in an elevator, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Michael Donio and New Jersey District Attorney Jim McClain agreed to put him in a diversion program for 1st-time offenders to keep him out of jail. But when Pennsylvania single mom Shaneen Allen was pulled over for a traffic violation and volunteered to a New Jersey police officer that she was carrying a legally-owned handgun with a Pennsylvania permit, the response of Donis and McClain was to deny her the same opportunity as Rice.

Allen lives in Philadelphia, right across the river from New Jersey. She has a Pennsylvania permit to carry a handgun. She thought it was recognized in New Jersey, just as it is recognized in over 30 other states. She was wrong. When she told the officer that she had the gun, she was arrested.

Now she faces a felony conviction and a mandatory 42 months in prison. Both Donio and McClain have been unwilling to dismiss the charges, or send Allen to a pretrial diversion program. They seem to want to make an example of her.

The problem is, she's being punished for something the Constitution says -- and the Supreme Court has agreed -- is a constitutional right. And the super-stiff penalties and abusive prosecution she's experiencing are pretty clearly intended to chill people from exercising that right. The Washington Post's Radley Balko quotes anti-gun activist Bryan Miller gloating over this result: "Fortunately, the notoriety of this case will make it less likely Pennsylvanians will carry concealed and loaded handguns in New Jersey, thereby making them and the Garden State safer from gun violence,"

Well, no. Shaneen Allen wasn't committing gun violence, and civilians with gun permits are a very law-abiding bunch, who have passed a background check and undergone training; no sensible state would want to discourage them from visiting.

But Miller is right that the New Jersey law in question is clearly intended to have a "chilling effect." In First Amendment law, statutes that are intended to chill people's free expression are often struck down by courts. Now that the Supreme Court, along with lower courts, has made clear that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to arms, it seems as if laws designed to treat gun-ownership and gun-carrying as, well, deviant and suitable for discouragement, will get the same treatment as laws that chill speech (I argue for that in a recent article in the Southern California Law Review.)

Perhaps, as the national outcry grows, the New Jersey justice system will do right by Allen. But the larger problem remains: While the courts have recognized that gun ownership is a normal, protected American activity, gun owners face a patchwork of laws that in many states impose Draconian penalties on people if, like Allen, they make an honest, harmless mistake. Allen is just the latest to be victimized by New Jersey officials. Travelers Brian Aitken and Greg Revell, suffered the same fate as Allen.

Under the Constitution, Congress has the power to protect civil rights via legislation, and this seems like a good subject for action. I would suggest a law providing that when people who may legally own guns under federal law are charged with possessing or carrying them in violation of state law, the maximum penalty should be a fine of no more than $500. This would allow states a reasonable degree of regulation, without subjecting individuals to life-ruining consequences just because some politico wants to make a point.
How about it, Congress? Isn't one Shaneen Allen case enough?

[Qtrborecrazy]

Good for USAToday and the writer for shining a light on the 2 dumbasses.

[Metz]

USAtoday... wow. Go figure.

[RockIsland]

I reckon Mr. Reynolds has never been to NJ.

[Philbert]

The problem is, she's being punished for something the Constitution says -- and the Supreme Court has agreed -- is a constitutional right. And the super-stiff penalties and abusive prosecution she's experiencing are pretty clearly intended to chill people from exercising that right. The Washington Post's Radley Balko quotes anti-gun activist Bryan Miller gloating over this result: "Fortunately, the notoriety of this case will make it less likely Pennsylvanians will carry concealed and loaded handguns in New Jersey, thereby making them and the Garden State safer from gun violence,"

Well why not just hang her from the Ben Franklin bridge then! That'll get the message across!

This is what CS Lewis warned about when justice no longer means anything, and punishments are meted out purely to meet abstract policy objectives. Ruining a mother's life over an innocent mistake is OK as long as it sends a message to those scary gun owners. What an asshole.

[internet troll]

Well why not just hang her from the Ben Franklin bridge then! That'll get the message across!

This is what CS Lewis warned about when justice no longer means anything, and punishments are meted out purely to meet abstract policy objectives. Ruining a mother's life over an innocent mistake is OK as long as it sends a message to those scary gun owners. What an asshole.

Agreed, reposting my thoughts from another thread about this.

"Makes me want to throw up my breakfast. A good (from what I've been able to gather) woman's life is being destroyed and he's happy because he apparently thinks that making criminals out of good people will reduce gun violence.

Yes I am sure criminals are thinking "whoops, the law says" and are leaving their guns behind before going to jersey and committing other crimes.

A hearty "fuck you" to Mr. Brian Miller. A persons life is being needlessly destroyed. This is what should be a big deal to everyone. Not that your warped agenda of criminalizing good people is being realized.

I want to repost this here, I am sure this woman can use help from anyone who is willing. Did she break the law. ...yes. Does the punishment fit the crime? About as much as using a nuclear bomb to get rid of an ant hill on your front lawn. This needs to be confronted now to show the folly of NJ laws. This needs to be an embarrassment to NJ. I always read how people think NJ laws should be changed, a case getting attention like this could help. Maybe it could lead to a change in laws that will help someone else in a similar situation in the future. And in the end she does not deserve this. "

[thefirstndsecond]

Well why not just hang her from the Ben Franklin bridge then! That'll get the message across!

This is what CS Lewis warned about when justice no longer means anything, and punishments are meted out purely to meet abstract policy objectives. Ruining a mother's life over an innocent mistake is OK as long as it sends a message to those scary gun owners. What an asshole.

Here here!!!

Well said!

I dont remember you having a post with such enthusiasm!

[thefirstndsecond]

One day I would love to see thousands of carry holders marching across a bridge from philly to NJ in complete disobedience of their law.

That would be cool. All is peaceful protest. No violence just walk across the bridge.

[Philbert]

Here here!!!

Well said!

I dont remember you having a post with such enthusiasm!

I think what really grinds my gears is not that they are prosecuting a bad case, but how they are actually proud of it. They are happy about letting a wife beater off because he can throw a ball, and sending this woman to jail.

The combination of an ever expanding list of crimes and draconian mandatory sentences have made the Mike Nifongs and Angela Coreys of the legal system way too powerful. They have all the power to decide who to charge and with what, according to how long they want to send someone to jail for.

[internet troll]

I think what really grinds my gears is not that they are prosecuting a bad case, but how they are actually proud of it. They are happy about letting a wife beater off because he can throw a ball, and sending this woman to jail.

The combination of an ever expanding list of crimes and draconian mandatory sentences have made the Mike Nifongs and Angela Coreys of the legal system way too powerful. They have all the power to decide who to charge and with what, according to how long they want to send someone to jail for.

I just did an Internet search of Ray Rice. I did not realize he was a football player. Now I'm more bitter about this,.