College kid who put noose on Ole Miss civil rights statue gets prison for sick stunt

[xocet]

College kid who put noose on Ole Miss civil rights statue gets prison for sick stunt
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS / Thursday, September 17, 2015, 3:12 PM


JACKSON, Miss. — A former University of Mississippi student who admitted helping place a noose on a statue of a civil rights activist is going to prison.

A federal judge sentenced Graeme Phillip Harris on Thursday to six months in prison beginning Jan. 4, and 12 months’ supervised release. Harris’ lawyer argued he didn’t deserve jail time.

Harris pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor charge of using a threat of force to intimidate African-American students and employees. Prosecutors say he and two other former students placed a noose on the statue of James Meredith, a black man who integrated Ole Miss amid rioting in 1962.

...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/college-kid-put-noose-ole-statue-prison-article-1.2364583

[marble falls]

1. Its a rare case of punishing the deserving. Good. Six months sounds about right.

[snooper2]

2. re-education camp would be better, now he will just hang with the skinheads for 6 months

and re-affirm, confirm his belief system

[marble falls]

5. If a college student can be impressed and educated by Mississippi skinheads, he was not....

doing too well in school. After six months of skinheads bumming cigarettes and commissary from him while punching him and trying to tat him, he'll be plenty re-educated.

[GummyBearz]

4. He will not correct his ways in 6 months

I may get verbally bashed for this opinion, but...

Put him to good use doing community service. Don't support the over crowded prison for profit system, or the cycle of violence. He will have to put that crap on every job application he ever fills out. So he will never get a legit job. So he will turn to crime/violence.

Might as well just give him the death penalty for taking part in a racism

[1StrongBlackMan]

10. I kind of agree, though not for the reasons you provide ...

As one poster up thread indicated, his time in prison (more likely, a jail),will likely turn what was a stupid, unthinking act, into a core belief ... as he will not receive a warm welcome by the Black inmates and will likely have to turn to some variety of white supremacists for protection.

But that said ... community service will not change the fact that he will have to disclose his conviction on job applications ... which will affect his job prospects.

I, for one, do not believe ANY ex-offender should be punished beyond the sentence they serve ... and the lawful employment discrimination of ex-offenders extends that punishment. Sure ... don't permit pedophiles to work with child or drug abusers to work with drugs or embezzlers to work with money; but, I see no reason to permit blanket denial of employment (except for the lowest rung of employment) for unrelated offenses.

[GummyBearz]

16. We actually do agree on a lot of the details

I didn't provide many details in my reasoning, but it does follow along the lines of what you are saying. Prison will harden his views, his job prospects after prison will push him towards more lawlessness, likely helped by the people he met in prison, and the odds are he will do worse things in the long run.

I don't know the right answer. Something needs to be done to help people like this turn away from a mindset of racism and hatred. Community service, mandatory counseling, and a viable path to leading a decent life and thus turning away from his past seems like it should be possible.

[1StrongBlackMan]

17. In a life past, I worked as a Pre-release Job Counselor for ex-offenders ...

It was my job to assist inmates 6 weeks from home, get "Job-ready" and help them find employment, upon release.

We had a 75% placement rate (into above minimum wage jobs, 87% if you measured from minimum wage or higher) ... and we found, over a 3 year measurement period, that those ex-offenders that secured employment within their first 30 days home, were least likely to return to prison (excluding, continuing drug abusers).

This suggests a viable policy/resource shift, that would go a long way to breaking the recidivism cycle. However, there are a number of obstacles to making investment ... not the least of which is the public's perception of what prison is for. At the time, the public saw (and largely continues to see) prison as punishment; rather than, for rehabilitation.

[cwydro]

3. He's going to have a rough ride there.

Wonder if he'll be sent to Parchman?

I'm amazed he got time, but I think the sentence is perfect.

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. Parchman is a state prison...this is a federal sentence

He'll probably report to a minimum-sec federal camp, which is also probably appropriate if he's going to get prison time at all.

[cwydro]

7. Oh ok, thanks for the info.

I tried to surf around, but was unsuccessful at finding information.

I did find that James Meredith had commented that it was a shame the feds had to get involved. That should have been my first hint lol. Thanks again.

I doubt this fool will learn any kind of lesson from this, but maybe.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. "A ***federal*** judge sentenced Graeme Phillip Harris..."

It was in the article.

[cwydro]

9. Like I said, I just missed that.

Must be old age. Reading comprehension suffers when one reads too fast lol.

Or it could be the mimosas.

[1StrongBlackMan]

11. He will likely, never see a "prison" ...

rather, he will likely spend his entire sentence in a county jail.

[cwydro]

13. Another poster above pointed out that it'll be a fed camp.

It was a federal sentence (I missed that in the article).

So yeah, he'll have it pretty easy. I doubt this idiot will ever change.

[1StrongBlackMan]

14. I guess it's relative; but, NO time inside ...

be it a jail or a Federal Minimum Security camp can/should be mistaken for having it pretty easy ... all centers for incarceration are inherently dangerous places.

[cwydro]

15. True, and in no way do I think loss of freedom is to be scoffed at.

It would kill me to be locked up, no matter where.

I think this guy is probably from a rich family and will have it "easier" than he would in other places.

Again, I just hope he learns what is wrong with him and will change.

[Lee-Lee]

19. It could still be a county jail- the Feds contract county facilities

all over the country to hold inmates who are pre-trial or have short sentances.

Sometimes it's less expensive to leave someone in a county jail close to their home for a few months than pay to transport them and inproccess them at a Federal prison. The counties do it because they can usually turn some extra money to help a struggling budget, or as a way to pay off bonds when they upgrade jail facilities.

[KingCharlemagne]

12. Something about this article doesnt pass the smell test. He plead guilty to

a misdemeanor but must go to prison? I thought prison was only 4 felony convictions.

Just curious.

[Lee-Lee]

18. Lots of misdemeanor charges can carry jail time

It's usually a year or less, but can be more.

[KingCharlemagne]

21. Call me pedantic, but the headline. says 'prison.' Jail is for

serious misdemeanors, but prison is for felonies.

Or is this a distinction without a difference? Im ailling 2 be convinced, but this article and headline have been sloppily executed.

[Skittles]

23. ailling 2 be

is that some kind of code?

[KingCharlemagne]

26. damned autocorrect. should read "willing to be" - nt

[Skittles]

27. *heh*

[Lee-Lee]

25. Typically Jail is your local county facility and prison is run by the state or feds

You get held in local jail awaiting trial or if its a really short sentence, once sentenced unless its a short sentence and not worth transferring you then its off to prison- because once sentenced your incarceration is paid for from a different pot of state level money instead of the city/county jail budget.

The threshold of sentence time it takes to get you sent to prison from jail varies by state. In some places if its more than a month they send you off to prison, in some places anything under a year stays at the local jail. How crowded the local jail is can also make a difference.

You could get 6 months for a felony and stay in the local jail in some places, you could get 2 years for a stack of misdemeanors and be sent off to prison. Or in some places get 60 days and be sent to prison because the local jail is overcrowded.

[XemaSab]

20. Slippery slopes...

First of all, if the KKK can march down the street and that's protected speech, how come putting a noose on a statue isn't also protected speech? Seems like there's a lot more "threat of force" when you're talking about a hundred men in hoods versus one anonymous noose.

Prison should be for violent crimes, crimes against property, and drug trafficking, not for something which didn't result in anything more than shock and offense.

Is this "using threat of force to intimidate," or is it protected speech?



I think an appropriate punishment for the kid who hung the noose would be expulsion from the university and 1,000 hours of community service.

[Democat]

22. I wonder if he can appeal on free speech grounds?

What if he had burned an American flag, would that be intimidating Americans and worthy of jail time?

This guy is obviously a racist, but it seems like his actions could be considered speech be higher courts unless there's something not in the article.

[mucifer]

24. Burning an American flag isn't a hate crime.

Hate crimes are different. They are meant to terrorize people. That's what putting a noose in a public place in Mississippi does. It is meant to terrorize people and it shouldn't go ignored like it has in the past.

[rockfordfile]

28. The time sounds good

[Gothmog]

29. This idiot is learning the meaning of the term hate crime