Fwd: Democracy Now! #1

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Catherine Estrada-Rios <cathyestrada17@mail.fresnostate.edu>
Date: Tue, Feb 4, 2014 at 5:40 PM
Subject: Democracy Now! #1
To: tkubal.2.2009.protest@blogger.com

Catherine Estrada-Rios

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/22/private_violence_survivors_advocates_confront_victim

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/4/kids_for_cash_inside_one_of

In the story titled "Private Violence: Survivors and advocates Confront Victim and the Epidemic of Domestic Abuse" I found that even though it is said that domestic abuse is fairly punished, most of the time the victim has to be so severely damaged physically and emotionally before the law decides to punish the offender as he deserves. When a woman is assaulted by her partner, considered a misdemeanor, the most time he could get in jail is 150 days. The second story, titled "Kids for Cash," reveals a scandal in the justice system which had been hidden for years. Judges had been convicting children for ridiculous "crimes." They were told that if they kept lawyers out of the case, their punishments would be minimal. One child was arrested at the age of 14 for creating a myspace page mocking her high school vice principal. Another spent a total of 5 years in jail for a supposed "stolen" scooter and having tried marijuana. It is said that the judges convicting the children were receiving millions of dollars for this. Both these stories reveal that our justice system is more unfair and corrupt than we thought.