Dennis Elias’s Latest Tweet :. Injustice News Twitter Feed :.Mark Bennett | March 30, 2009
I was relaxing on the front porch of Bennett Manor with a glass of good single-malt when the telephone rang. It was my private line — the number I don’t give out to anybody. Caller ID showed an unfamiliar overseas area code. I answered it.
-Hello?
Pssst. Mark.
-Mr. X? Where are you calling from?I’m here in town. [...]
Mark Bennett | October 29, 2008
Probation / Prison
Productive member of society / Drain on society
Restitution / No restitution
Supervision of court / School for crime
2y probation + 2y prison = 4y in system / 2y prison = 2y
Conditions of probation / Robbers, rapists, murderers
For people who can live in society / For people who cannot live in society
Alcohol evaluation and treatment [...]
Mark Bennett | May 18, 2008
A Texas judge can give deferred-adjudication probation to a person pleading guilty unless:
(1) the defendant is charged with an offense:
(A) under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code [DWI offenses]; or
(B) for which punishment may be increased under Section 481.134(c), (d), (e), or (f), Health and Safety Code [Drug-Free Zone], if it is shown that the defendant has [...]
Mark Bennett | November 20, 2007
This comment on Scott Greenfield’s blog by one of the authors of the recent Dallas Morning News article on probation for murder in Texas got me thinking a bit. “A closer read of our series,” he wrote, “shows that prosecutors still can offer probation through plea bargains with defendants.” Here is the article about which [...]
Mark Bennett | November 20, 2007
There has been some ado in the blawgosphere lately about the fact that Texas juries could convict people of murder, and then give them probation. (It’s not the law anymore — for murders after September 1, 2007, probation will not be an option for the jury.) Furriners (anyone unfamiliar with Texas culture, including reporters from [...]
