Waiver: SCOTUS says appeal it now, not later, career criminal!

[The_RANDy_Corporation]

What's this? Someone must have left the back door open at the Supreme Court and common sence crept in!!

Notice all the 5-4 decisions.
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Court Limits Challenges by Career Criminals
By Laurie Asseo Associated Press Writer
Published: Apr 25, 2001

WASHINGTON (AP) - Criminals given enhanced, repeat-offender prison terms generally cannot challenge those sentences by attacking the validity of their earlier state convictions, the Supreme Court said Wednesday.
Issuing a pair of 5-4 rulings in cases from California and Pennsylvania, the court said defendants cannot challenge the use of prior state convictions to lengthen a sentence if they bypassed an earlier chance to appeal those convictions.

"A defendant generally has ample opportunity to obtain constitutional review of a state conviction," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote for the court in the case of California defendant Earthy Daniels.

"But once the door to such review has been closed ... the conviction becomes final and the defendant is not entitled to another bite at the apple simply because that conviction is later used to enhance another sentence," she added.

Read the rest of this appealing story here (http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGABIIJ9ZLC.html)

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I know this is a silly question, but why was it a 5-4 decision? Sounds like some bozoid-life-forms disguised as judges are looking for pretexts to unleash career criminals on society! @#$% am I glad it's "President Bush" and not Gore with that title, :eek; images/icons/shocked.gif ! And no, I don't think President Bush's appointments will all be 100% perfect, but I know Gore appointments would all have been 100% awful!

[The_RANDy_Corporation]

You never know how these "justices" are going to break when you appoint them. Look at senior Bush and the Souter catastrophy. You are quite right, though, with Gore we'd have 4 more Darth Vader Ginsburgs.