experiencing 'the system' personally.

got any? many topics come to mind.
the first i'll discuss is the prison system. 20 years ago, while being younger and dumber, i was locked up in federal prison for possessing far more marijuana than i could possibly claim personal.
usual story. middling deals out of tucson. my mexican connections. friend got popped by d.e.a. rolled on me. i was the only one that went to prison out of 3 co-defendants. i refused to cooperate.
2 years, started in maximum security during transportation to from montana to tucson.
shackled to the floor of a van, con-air. portland, lompoc, tucson.
was then moved into minimum, had no pryors, should have gone to a camp, but judge didn't like me, and i only had about 15k for a lawyer.
ended up in safford, not a bad place.
all the usual humiliation tactics, bend over and spread um'.
wouldn't recommend it.
so, what's your story?

My horror story with the court system happened during my divorce. This happened during the early nineties at a time when, in Georgia, at least, fathers rights weren't high on the agenda since "dead-beat dads" had been a constant MSM story here. Long story short, the judge gave my ex everything she asked for, including almost no visitation, for me, with my son. This was a no-fault divorce. I hadn't wronged her at all, she'd simply met another guy she wanted to be with more. At the end of the proceeding my then wife petitioned the judge for both of our cars, instead of just her own. Her excuse? That her car might break down someday and my car was needed as a back-up.

He gave it to her, no questions asked.

I plead the idea that I had a job and to pay the liberal child support and alimony he was in the process of ordering I would, certainly, need a car. At this point the judge told me to "shut up" and I called him a name with very phallic connotations.

Eight days later I was released from jail, but only after I'd given my lawyer a fifteen hundred dollar check, made out TO the judge in question - actually in his name. I had to bribe my own way out of jail, in the US, from a situation in civil court that probably should have been nothing more than a moderate monetary fine.

That one experience taught me A LOT about what to expect from this system.

reply to post by Hefficide


it's tough to go up against a system that basically has 'unlimited resources'.
lie, cheat or steal in your case.
thanx for the story, sorry to hear it, but thanx.

reply to post by Hefficide




That is a terrible story. Your ex was a terrible person to do that, and that judge, what an abusing git! You must have been so angry.

And people wonder how certain people can 'crack' sometimes.

reply to post by rubbertramp


The jail system over there always sounds more harsh than the system over here where the jails are nicknamed 'holiday camps', provide internet, playstations, etc for inmates.

Its ridiculous, i think they should make the jails over here abit tougher like the american jails so it may bring down the rate of re-offenders, but no, over here they are actually shortening sentences and doing away with sentences for lots of small crimes altogether.

Sorry you got 2yrs tho,

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha


Ah, Tuatha... As in Tuatha De Danann? Very Celtic!

It was a horrible year and experience. But life went on, things went back to good, and now it's all just a really icky memory that I don't recall to often and am OK with now. Though I would like to wander into a bar one day and see that Judge sitting there having a beer. He'd only be able to tell the cops about the blur he saw before the lights went out.

Oh well, karma works so I'm guessing he had that kind of a day without my help at some point.

And as for the ex... We still don't talk, but she just had her third divorce. Besides, I have a wonderful, talented, and good looking 19 year old son from that experience so it was all most definitely worth it!


Edited to say : Oh, now I see the Ireland in your avatar. LOL

[edit on 8/5/10 by Hefficide]

reply to post by Hefficide


Yes it is from the Irish Mythical stories of the Tuatha DeDanaan, you are the first person to get that

Glad to hear that you got over it okay the system messed you over bigtime.

Hope karma kicks their behinds sounds like it already has your ex's.

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha


where is 'over here'?

just to point out, i have no regrets about it. i never even got that pissed at my co-defendant.
his choice, 8 years, or roll over and go home to raise his kids.
ok, at first i wanted to kill him, but i understood why he did what he did.
i consider it my fault for trusting the wrong people.

reply to post by rubbertramp


I was hanging out with idiots, someone i knew tried to steal from a store, while he was getting knocked around, i knocked the guy out. Broke his eye socket in 8 places. Did 6 months and now have a strike. Still on probation, completely sober and i no longer hang around these people.

Add: Spent over a year in court fighting the charges.

[edit on 5-8-2010 by onequestion]

let's see, so far we have one,
busted for drugs.
one, divorce nightmare, hefficide, was c.p.s. ever involved?
and one case of a violent act and the repercussions of it.

other thoughts i had that were not touched,
forfeitures, foreclosures, tax problems etc.....

this board can surprise me at times, if i asked posters what they've witnessed concerning other people, this would have gone far.
not that that is a complaint, just an observation after being here a bit.

[edit on 6-8-2010 by rubbertramp]

My experiences with "the system"?

Had my home ransacked by Federal Marshals.
My wife charged with 27 Felony counts for a year.
Paid a lawyer $18,000 to keep her out of prison.
She divorced me for a juvenile who lived across the street (with rich parents). We were both in our 30's at the time!
She got the house, custody of my 2 sons, and the car (only had 1)
Worked for a company that went bankrupt due to the ATF keeping us from doing any business while they checked our inventory and records (it took them 5 months to complete the investigation - no charges filed)
Unable to obtain credit due to someone else using my SS#.
I got sick almost 3 years ago and have been unable to work since. I finally got disability 4 months ago (after paying a lawyer $5,000).
Oh the system? It's great! I think everyone should try it

jeez dude, mind me asking what brought the feds down on her?
the marshals and the a.t.f. rarely react without decent tips.
not that there are not exceptions, but the feds conviction rate is extrememly high, like in my case, without co-defendants testimony, they never would have had a reason to come after me.

reply to post by rubbertramp


My wife was working at a local business college doing student loan applications. This was right about the time the Reagan administration said they were going to "clean up federal agencies etc".
So what happened was that these Marshals interviewed students and these students had lied on their loan applications. To save their own asses they told the feds that the college had told them to lie so they could get the loans.

It took almost 2 years before trial and the whole time we were sweating bullets. I was thinking "my wife goes to prison and I have to take care of a 4 year old and a 1 year old boy by myself?"
We had to sell everything we owned and borrow from relatives to pay the lawyer, who btw was John Edwards when nobody knew him.

It was all about government agencies trying to look like they were "cracking down" on white collar crime.

They should've just thrown all the bankers in jail instead.

The ATF thing happened because a guy who was an electrical contractor stole a pistol from us and later used it in a robbery. Thus, the ATF came after us ( a commemorative firearm company ). We had 20 - 30 thousand guns in stock and that many sold or transfered plus a gazillion gun parts (all numbered) that they had to trace.

Nothing there in either case. Just the federal gov't making d*cks of themselves. Me, I was just collateral damage.

[edit on 6-8-2010 by Asktheanimals]