After 18 days, Bill Sizemore sings a new tune on criminal justice system
Kari Chisholm
On August 4, Bill Sizemore pled guilty to three counts of tax evasion and went immediately to Marion County Jail.
Now, after 18 days, he's out. (There's a bit of a controversy, in that the court's judgment was that he would not be eligible for early release from his 30-day sentence, but the Sheriff released him based on good behavior.)
But here's what's so very interesting: After just 18 days in the county jail (not the state prison), Bill Sizemore is already questioning "the harshness of some of the state's mandatory sentencing laws", according to the O's Jeff Mapes.
Sizemore also told Mapes that "the experience has made him more critical of the state's criminal justice system."
Truly fascinating.
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7:54 a.m.
Aug 23, '11
Bible college didn't give him religion but the county lockup did. Mannix is going to be really upset with him and his new bleeding heart.
10:13 a.m.
Aug 23, '11
if the definition of a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged, maybe the definition of a liberal, at least on criminal justice matters, is a conservative who has gone to jail.
12:32 p.m.
Aug 24, '11
Thomas Wolfe beat you to it. I think it was in Bonfire of the Vanities that he wrote, "If a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged, a liberal is a conservative who's been arrested."
I've had occasion to quote that line several times to friends who have experienced the criminal justice system from the other side, either personally or through family members.
3:06 p.m.
Aug 24, '11
Well, I know I read it then, 20 years ago or so. Probably stuck in my mind. But like I originally said, Theres nothing new under the sun.
6:58 p.m.
Aug 24, '11
Thomas Wolfe didn't write Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe did.
Googling the quotation gives mixed results, though it appears more likely it's from Thomas, not Tom, but I didn't come across an actual source for the quotation.
The sites that attribute it to Thomas tend to be quotation sites, and those that attribute it to Tom tend to be blogs, so it seems likely it's from Thomas.
3:11 p.m.
Aug 25, '11
No, it's Tom Wolfe. I keep forgetting which one has the formal name and which one wears the formal clothes.
It's the late 20th century writer I'm talking about because I read it in one of his books, not on-line. Besides, Thomas Wolfe was dead long before the term "mugged" in its current usage was coined.
And Rob, you still deserve credit for making an appropriate point.
8:15 p.m.
Aug 25, '11
Jack, can you cite an actual source, or are you going off of fuzzy memory?
Like I said, when I google the quotation, about 2/3 say Thomas Wolfe, about 1/3 say Tom Wolfe, but none of them cite where it appears, so as far as I'm concerned they're all suspect.
My OED shows an example of "mug" in the sense of "to strike in the face" from 1818, so I believe you're wrong about the current sense.
At this point, it appears to be an open question, until someone can provide the actual source of the quotation.
6:10 a.m.
Aug 26, '11
A friend found a reliable source ( "Oxford Dictionary of Thematic Quotations") that it is Tom, not Thomas, and it is from Bonfire of the Vanities.
1:41 p.m.
Aug 23, '11
"Good behavior" seems a strange term to apply to BS. Also, the O says he's going to look for a job! It's good to think of him doing an honest day's work, but instead maybe one of his millionaire backers will pay him to be a "consultant"?
5:43 p.m.
Aug 25, '11
Yeah, maybe a "think tank" can pay him to "ponder" again. (One of the funnier parts of his testimony was when he described what he did for Loren Parks.)
2:45 p.m.
Aug 23, '11
Sigh ... I wish I would never-ever-ever hear what Bill Sizemore has to say about anything, ever again.
10:00 p.m.
Aug 23, '11
Word.
10:28 p.m.
Aug 23, '11
So, does this mean he's considering some more ballot measures to address his concerns?
7:05 a.m.
Aug 24, '11
Too soon! Political grifters should be treated like any other criminal. A good lesson for the likes of Gingrich, O'Donnell, Palin, Bachmann, Parks, Tiernan, the Starr Family, the Bunn Family, Chael Sonnen, et al.
12:23 p.m.
Aug 24, '11
I got $20 that says his 'reform of the State's Judicial System' involves privatization...
...the ones that don't change the initiative system, that is.
5:16 p.m.
Aug 24, '11
Conservatives are only conservative on those issues that do not directly affect them. You show me a conservative voting with Democrats on any issue, and I will show you a Republican directly impacted by that issue. Here are just some examples: (1) Gordon Smith champions mental health parity after his son commits suicide; (2)Orrin Hatch and Nancy Reagan suddenly champion stem-cell research after loved-ones of theirs are afflicted with illnesses that could be possibly cured with stem-cell research, (3) Dan Burton (R-IN) has become a champion for autistism research after his grandson was diagnosed as having autism, and (4) now we have Bill Sizemore suddenly interested in criminal rights after he has to sit in jail for a whole 18 days.
What does it say about a philosophy when the followers of that philosophy will only adhere to it so long as it does not directly impact them?
12:52 a.m.
Aug 25, '11
...Dick Cheney remains staunchly anti-gay even after his daughter comes out..?
8:53 a.m.
Aug 25, '11
Thank you for providing another example! (really hard not to be snarky) Dick Cheney supports gay marriage. The article below starts with the sentence: "Cheney rarely takes a position that places him at a more progressive tilt than President Obama. But on Monday, the former vice president did just that, saying that he supports gay marriage as long as it is deemed legal by state and not federal government."
Hmmm...what is it about this issue that could make Cheney break away from his party? Oh, that's right. He is personally affected by it. Thank you for helping to prove my point.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/01/cheney-offers-his-support_n_209869.html
11:20 a.m.
Aug 26, '11
I hadn't read that article. The last I knew, he remained staunchly quiet on the matter, and many took offense that he appeared to not support his openly gay daughter.
...of course, this article is after he left office...
9:28 p.m.
Aug 26, '11
While in office he was also left of his party on the issue of gay marriage. When he debated John Edwards he refused to say he supported a ban on gay marriage. Besides, I'm not sure what difference it makes as to when he made this decision. It's still an example of a Republican breaking from his party's platform on an issue that personally affects him.
2:26 a.m.
Aug 29, '11
He refused to say anything in that debate, IIRC. If it's the one I remember, he thanked Edwards for thinking of his daughter and that was all he said.
Time matters hugely. He is now more or less irrelevant. When he was VPotUS, he could have said something, even without making a huge platform stand, and have had an effect. As is, he cowered behind the party line until he became nothing important. And then came forward.
10:28 p.m.
Aug 29, '11
I'm not one to defend Dick Cheney, but Dylan is correct here. From the AP, August 25, 2004:
And yes, Dylan is also right that it's a clear example Miss America Compassion - wherein a conservative takes a liberal position because it personally affects them.
7:28 p.m.
Aug 24, '11
Or Sizemore could be just as wrong now as he was with his hare-brained tax initiatives. Doing 18 whole days for a felony. Maybe that is what's wrong.
12:59 a.m.
Aug 25, '11
The real crime of our judicial system is that someone with a dime bag will go to jail for years. Someone who holds up a 7-11 will serve five years and will pretty much never be hireable again.
...someone who defrauds the public will go to jail for a month, and get time off for good behavior, and will be instantly snapped up for a nice banking job or consultancy or lobbying...