3 years in prison for a joke

http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/06/burning.bush.ap/index.html

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota (AP) -- A man who made a remark about a "burning Bush" during the president's March 2001 trip to Sioux Falls was sentenced Friday to 37 months in prison.

Richard Humphreys of Portland, Oregon was convicted in September of threatening to kill or harm the president and said he plans to appeal. He has said the comment was a prophecy protected under his right to free speech.

Humphreys said he got into a barroom discussion in nearby Watertown with a truck driver. A bartender who overheard the conversation realized the president was to visit Sioux Falls the next day and told police Humphreys talked about a "burning Bush" and the possibility of someone pouring a flammable liquid on Bush and lighting it.

"I said God might speak to the world through a burning Bush," Humphreys testified during his trial. "I had said that before and I thought it was funny."

John Starrett

on 12/12/02 11:02 PM, John Starrett <jstarret@...> wrote:

> A man who made a remark about a "burning Bush" during the president's March
2001
> trip to Sioux Falls was sentenced Friday to 37 months in prison.

Thanks John, what a police state we've become. The guy was in a bar and made
a disparaging remark about the president that was sort of amusing. Big
freaking deal. But no they gotta arrest him and put him in prison. 37 months
at $80,000/year - it'll costs us about $250,000 to warehouse him plus lost
tax revenue plus lost contribution to society. If he has kids they'll have
to go on public assistence. And when he gets out good luck finding a job.
When it's all over this will cost the economy probably $1 to $5 million
total in lost lifetime earnings, health costs due to his poor health from
being stressed and paranoid when he gets out, etc, etc. Let's free some
child molesters to make room for the guy who makes a comment at the bar! Or
wait no we'll have to free our friends the enron execs because there is not
enough room for this truck driver who has commited to crime to be locked up
like an animal.

- Jeff

What's interesting to me is that there're no remarks
as to what made his conviction possible. Was
it a credible case made by diligent prosecutors?

This doesn't seem to be related to the Patriot Act,
unless the spirit of the new "law" is being applied
retroactively to cases filed before 9-11-01.

--- Original Message ---
From: "John Starrett <jstarret@...>"
<jstarret@...>
To: metatuning@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [metatuning] 3 years in prison for a joke

>http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/06/burning.bus
h.ap/index.html
>
>SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota (AP) -- A man who made a
remark about a "burning Bush" during the president's
March 2001 trip to Sioux Falls was sentenced Friday
to 37 months in prison.
>
>Richard Humphreys of Portland, Oregon was convicted
in September of threatening to kill or harm the
president and said he plans to appeal. He has said
the comment was a prophecy protected under his right
to free speech.
>
>Humphreys said he got into a barroom discussion in
nearby Watertown with a truck driver. A bartender who
overheard the conversation realized the president was
to visit Sioux Falls the next day and told police
Humphreys talked about a "burning Bush" and the
possibility of someone pouring a flammable liquid on
Bush and lighting it.
>
>"I said God might speak to the world through a
burning Bush," Humphreys testified during his
trial. "I had said that before and I thought it was
funny."
>
>John Starrett
>
>
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