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What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

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Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#191

Post by gst »

jahaja wrote: post #189
deftnerd wrote: post #57

I am a developer/hacker who spent 6 months in prison about a decade ago. They had a room of old broken computers that were donated and I offered to fix them up in exchange for increased library privileges. Normally inmates could only visit the library once a week and check out two books, but I read about 4 books a day during my time there. I fixed up the computers and supported them once they got a teacher, read my b…

This is interesting. When does your record disappear in the US? In Sweden the record is removed 10 years after a prison sentence has been served. However, requesting ones criminal record is not usual besides applications to work at a kinder garten or school. My opinion is basically that once a person has served the sentence no additional "social" sentence should be given. I feel that that would just be counterproduct…

As far as I know in the US such records never disappear. Also, it seems common that for most tech jobs a criminal background check is done (I don't know how it's in other areas outside of tech).

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#193

Post by gst »

justin66 wrote: post #109
deftnerd wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basically, I gave a ride to a couch-surfer that ended up committing a robbery. Instead of turning them in when I found out, I just kicked them out... but the police said that made me an accomplice so I went to prison for 6 months and was on probation for 10 years. I was charged as an adult, so it can't be sealed. Even if I managed to get the records expunged by donating enough money to $partyInPower, it wouldn't matt…

> it wouldn't matter much because all the data brokers have already bought that information and are under no obligation to remove the information from their databases. That's actually not right. If you get a criminal record expunged, the FCRA requires those data brokers to not release those records ever again to whoever runs a background check on you. If they do it, they're in violation of the FCRA. The thing that su…

Are all of those data brokers located in the US? Otherwise they probably won't care much about US law.

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#194

Post by dannypgh »

tptacek wrote: post #185
dannypgh wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're confusing robbery and burglary. The common law definition of robbery is assault + larceny (theft) - that is, it's taking something that's not yours combined with making someone fear imminent harm.

How do you assault someone who isn't present at the scene of the crime? According to the model penal code, "burglary" is the charge of attempting a felony by surreptitiously breaking into a building. The unique elements of burglary are all about gaining access to buildings. Like you said, robbery is about theft by force. For what it's worth, I asked because Texas has three "aggravated" robbery statutes: robbery with…

I'm not sure what you're asking. The victim of robbery is present for it, of course. I'm pointing out that unless you're seeing something that I'm not, there's no element of a robbery that implies there's a "target house."

A common mugging is a robbery. When I think of crimes that target houses, I think of burglary.

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#195

Post by gst »

moron4hire wrote: post #148
swalkergibson wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is truly amazing how fucked up our system is. If they actually believed you "deserved" 99 years, then bargaining down to 6 months suggests that all they really care about is artificially inflating and maintaining their "conviction" rate and not actually, you know, justice or something. Thank you for sharing your experiences, I rarely get the opportunity to discuss things like this. Best of luck to you going forwar…

That's the maximum possible sentence that can be applied in any circumstance, but it would not have been possible for him to get it. There is a table for each class of crime that cross references the severity of the crime, the number of crimes committed by the person before, and a very small plus or minus factor for how much the judge likes or dislikes you. As a first-time offender, he would have only been eligible f…

In the same situation I'd probably acted the same. Yes, it's likely that the actual sentence would have been much lower. But there's still a very significant chance of spending the rest of your life in jail.

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#196

Post by tptacek »

dannypgh wrote: post #194
tptacek wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you assault someone who isn't present at the scene of the crime? According to the model penal code, "burglary" is the charge of attempting a felony by surreptitiously breaking into a building. The unique elements of burglary are all about gaining access to buildings. Like you said, robbery is about theft by force. For what it's worth, I asked because Texas has three "aggravated" robbery statutes: robbery with…

I'm not sure what you're asking. The victim of robbery is present for it, of course. I'm pointing out that unless you're seeing something that I'm not, there's no element of a robbery that implies there's a "target house." A common mugging is a robbery. When I think of crimes that target houses, I think of burglary.

Oh, that came from his other comments; he said he drove someone somewhere where that person committed a robbery. I had just assumed it was to somewhere someone lived. The "house" part wasn't important to my question. Sorry to be confusing.

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#197

Post by jpatokal »

swalkergibson wrote: post #165
moron4hire wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the maximum possible sentence that can be applied in any circumstance, but it would not have been possible for him to get it. There is a table for each class of crime that cross references the severity of the crime, the number of crimes committed by the person before, and a very small plus or minus factor for how much the judge likes or dislikes you. As a first-time offender, he would have only been eligible f…

You are correct, that is the maximum. Here is the minimum for Aggravated Robbery (a first degree felony): "Sec. 12.32. FIRST DEGREE FELONY PUNISHMENT. (a) An individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the first degree shall be punished by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 5 years. (b) In addition to imprisonment, an individual adjud…

Yup. There was an interesting story on HN a few months back about the parallels between plea bargaining and the Inquisition: faced with either, it's very much in your interest to confess and plead guilty, even if you're innocent.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5058703

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#198

Post by jahaja »

gst wrote: post #191
jahaja wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is interesting. When does your record disappear in the US? In Sweden the record is removed 10 years after a prison sentence has been served. However, requesting ones criminal record is not usual besides applications to work at a kinder garten or school. My opinion is basically that once a person has served the sentence no additional "social" sentence should be given. I feel that that would just be counterproduct…

As far as I know in the US such records never disappear. Also, it seems common that for most tech jobs a criminal background check is done (I don't know how it's in other areas outside of tech).

I just can't understand why a criminal background check is relevant for a tech job..

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#199

Post by tptacek »

gst wrote: post #195
moron4hire wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the maximum possible sentence that can be applied in any circumstance, but it would not have been possible for him to get it. There is a table for each class of crime that cross references the severity of the crime, the number of crimes committed by the person before, and a very small plus or minus factor for how much the judge likes or dislikes you. As a first-time offender, he would have only been eligible f…

In the same situation I'd probably acted the same. Yes, it's likely that the actual sentence would have been much lower. But there's still a very significant chance of spending the rest of your life in jail.

There was no chance of him spending the rest of his life in jail. That is the point of the preceding comment. Requisite Popehat post:

http://www.popehat.com/2013/02/05/crime-whale-sushi-sentence...

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#200

Post by 6d0debc071 »

deftnerd wrote: post #113
swalkergibson wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is really terrifying. I apologize for all of the personal questions, but what were you facing if you went to trial? I am fascinated by this. Honestly, it sounds like you were the victim of one-size-fits-all justice...

I'm not a shy person about personal details. They were threatening to give me 99 years in prison for Aggravated Robbery, which is a Class 1 felony, merely because of my inadvertent involvement in the crime. That's on the same level as murder and all of those frightening things. The Jurisdiction was Williamson county, a neighboring county of Austin, TX. They are well-known for their no leniency attitudes.

Did you have a lawyer?

Not criticising here, honestly curious. Lawyer should have shown you sentencing guidelines and talked about averages and probability.

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