Pubdate: Tue, 23 Mar 2004
Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA)
Copyright: 2004 The Fresno Bee
Contact:  http://www.fresnobee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/161
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

IS JUSTICE SERVED?

Wrong Place, Wrong Time: 10 Years In Prison For Someone Else's Pot.

Some stories so dramatically illustrate the shortcomings of our criminal 
justice system that they take your breath away. The prosecution of Miguel 
Mendoza Palominos is such a story.

Palominos, a 21-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico, was convicted 
recently in federal court of manufacturing 1,000 marijuana plants. His 
guilt is not in question.

According to his attorney, Palominos, who is illiterate, grew up in extreme 
poverty in Mexico. He never attended school and spent his childhood begging 
for food on the streets.

Lured to the United States with promises of a job in agriculture, he was 
taken to remote Tehama County, where he was put to work watering marijuana 
plants. He was there only two months when he was caught in a raid. The 
lowliest cog in a huge marijuana growing operation, he was the only one 
apprehended.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Judge William Shubb had minimal 
discretion. Because of the huge number of plants involved and the fact that 
deputies found a semiautomatic pistol in Palominos' backpack, Shubb was 
required to sentence him to 10 years in prison for conduct that he noted, 
"the majority of the people in California believe should be legalized." 
Palominos' youth, his lack of sophistication, the fact that he had never 
even gotten paid or that he was looking for a way to feed his mother and 
sisters back in Mexico didn't matter. Nor did it matter that the principals 
in the crime, the people who exploited Palominos, were never caught, that 
they are free to plant new gardens.

Certainly what Palominos did was wrong and deserving of punishment. Illegal 
pot farms have turned California wilderness areas into war zones. The 
criminals guarding hidden marijuana groves endanger the public. Palominos 
was armed.

Still, it's hard to see how locking a poor, desperate youth from Mexico 
away for 10 years while the principals in the operation go free helps solve 
the problem or advances justice. It's hard to understand how it will deter 
the next desperate illegal immigrant from being lured north to water pot 
plants.
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