REHABILITATION DOES HAPPEN

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: 415

I don’t often do this, but I am sending to you one of the responses I received from Allan Dollison, Esq to last week’s 2 Paragraphs edition entitled “It Doesn’t Take that Much,” and I have his permission to attribute it to him. I thought his story, which I have condensed, was timely and would be interesting and even inspiring to our 2 Paragraphs Family. So here it is:

Hi Jim:

I want to share a neat story. After I left the DA’s office in Humboldt, I had a practice up there for a couple of years. Occasionally the Court would ask to appoint me when the Public Defender offices (and we had 3) had conflicts. The one case I really remember was interesting, because I had prosecuted the woman for breaking into people’s cars. As a result she was sent to prison for 10 years (half time), and she had hooked up with another person who I had also prosecuted. The court could not find anyone to represent her this time, so I agreed to do it. Of course I fully explained to the Court my previous representation, but there were no conflicts as they did not allege those priors. Her husband also got an appointed attorney, one of the best in town. Immediately, I noticed that the crimes they were being prosecuted for were far less serious than before. Writing bad checks. They had 3 children in CPS (Child Protective Services), because they were in jail, but they were determined NOT to lose their children. The next thing I noticed was the DA had hugely overcharged the case. There were some 10-12 checks, all of which were $50 – $100, one was to buy a bike for their kid’s birthday. Yet the DA charged each individual check as a felony, arguing that the total equaled the felony amount. I knew that was not the law. They filed an Information and I was able to get the complaint modified. The DA still sought a sentence of seven or more years, but the Judge sensed the DA was trying to punish them because of my successful litigation. So the Judge offered my client a Plea, which was Probation for one year. Both of the clients accepted it. About 6 months later they got their kids back. Then they left California. My client soon set up her own business, her husband became a truck driver and they bought a house. I follow them on Social Media, and the family is really doing well. Throughout that representation, she told me that it was because I was giving them another chance that they were not going to blow it. I always wanted to write to the Judge and tell him this story, even though I doubt he would remember the case. People can turn their lives around, and every now and then there is rehabilitation, and there is proof all around us.

So what do you think? My view is that rehabilitation actually does happen, and that everyone won in this case except for the ostensible over-prosecution. But, obviously, this took a bit more effort than “It Doesn’t Take Much. . ”

Question for the week: What do you call a ship that shivers on the bottom of the ocean? A nervous wreck.