Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog
Usually, the “Attorney Sam’s Take” postings take place on Fridays. However, this past week, I was finishing a jury trial and so could not post in a timely manner. I did not feel I could not simply shelve this subject, though, because we may have solved a problem plaguing the criminal justice system…in Boston and beyond.
As you have probably, heard, the ten alleged Russian agents recently rounded up in the Boston area and other parts of the Northeast, have pleaded guilty at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Most of the defendants admitted that they are Russian citizens and are agents working for the Russian Federation.
The sentence?
Well, a swap has been arranged. The Russian Federation will receive the spies in their custody and in turn will release four individuals claimed to be connected to American intelligence agencies, according to the United States Department of Justice.
In a Department of Justice press release, Attorney General Eric Holder said, “This was an extraordinary case, developed through years of work by investigators, intelligence lawyers, and prosecutors, and the agreement we reached today provides a successful resolution for the United States and its interests.”
Everybody is excited about this solution.
Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in the briefing on June 29, “I do not believe that this will affect the reset of our relationship with Russia. We have made great progress in the past year and a half, working on issues of mutual concern from a New START treaty to working together on things like in the United Nations dealing with North Korea and Iran.”
Ever mindful of the problems daily confronting our criminal justice system and its participants, I realized that this could be the beginning of a “win-win” scenario of criminal sentences.
The Russian spies, for example, would probably rather go home than stay here in custody. So they are happy. Both the United States and Russia are happy because they do not have to pay to house the spies of the other country, while they are happy to welcome home their heroes.
So…I ask this: why can’t we do this with more crimes?
For example, we have a hang-up about cruel and unusual punishments. This is why we do not beat our criminal defendants. Well, not blatantly, at least.
Why not take our assault and battery defendants and send them to countries where such battery is not necessarily frowned upon? There are countries, for example, which believe in caning the guilty. We could put our assault experts to work there, working for the government no less, instead of housing them here. In return, we can take in all those folks who have been arrested for speaking against their government. We allow that more or less here, so we can take them here and they will no longer be criminals!
There are countries where those in the drug trade have real power in the nation. Well, here, we tend to imprison drug dealers. Why? Couldn’t we send them to such places where they would simply take their places amongst the country’s elite instead of housing them in prisons? In return, we could take in those who face unofficial death penalties for talking with law enforcement.
We allow talking to law enforcement here.
Another example where this might work is “hate crimes“. Different nations hate different people. I am sure that someone who attacked a certain minority group in the USA might be considered a hero somewhere else. Visa versa too!
Now, it is just possible that I have not thought through all the potential kinks in this solution. After all, I am still on trial and have been very busy.
But, it’s a start.
Until we do adopt this type of strategy for other crimes, if you are suspected of or arrested for such crimes you are likely to face old fashioned USA criminal sentencing. So, you ought to take it seriously.
Contact an experienced criminal defense attorney to defend you immediately. As for me, I am one such attorney. Don’t worry, though. As any of my clients can tell you, I may make jokes on the blog, but in court I am deadly serious.
So, if you are facing such charges and would like to consult with me regarding representing you , please feel free to give me a call at 617-492-3000 .
To view the original story upon which today’s blog was based, please go to http://m.theepochtimes.com/index.php?page=content&id=38860
