Ex-cop sentenced to 102 years for staging raids

the aptly named Grump said:

So, unless you and your like-minded buddies can show me where this poor excuse of an ex-cop got more years on his sentence than he would have for doing the exact same thing using a knife, you can take your objections and piss off.

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from the article said:

Ferguson's sentence was so severe because he was convicted of four firearms charges which carry a mandatory sentence of 82 years in prison.

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As is my understanding the Armed Forces have military justice that is harsher than civilian.

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No. Virtually identical. There are some ordinary things that are military crimes (not just in combat), such as, tardiness to the job and disobeying your foreman, but murder, rape, assault, robbery, etc. are defined the same and punished the same.

In fact, in many ways it's a better system. It has enough personnel to operate as the Constitution and rules require. If you request a lawyer, you'll get one (generally right away). You get a jury of intelligent people (not the last 12 who couldn't find a good excuse) who can understand "reasonable doubt" and are willing to act on it. Sentencing is more humane than in federal district court and the prisons (but not necessarily the brigs) are well staffed and operated.

No. Virtually identical. There are some ordinary things that are military crimes (not just in combat), such as, tardiness to the job and disobeying your foreman, but murder, rape, assault, robbery, etc. are defined the same and punished the same.

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Actually, thats not true.Military punishment is allowed to be MUCH harsher. I dont know of any civillian courts that have put anyone in a cell, with only bread and water, 3 meals a day, for 3 days as a punishment.The Navy does (I've seen it done).


"(b) Subject to subsection (a) any commanding officer may, in addition to or in lieu of admonition or reprimand, impose one or more of the following disciplinary punishments for minor offenses without the intervention of a court-martial--


(A) if imposed upon a person attached to or embarked in a vessel, confinement on bread and water or diminished rations for not more than three consecutive days;"


Also, rape can be punished with the death penalty in the military, although I doubt its been done since WWI, if even that recently).

"920. ART. 120. RAPE AND CARNAL KNOWLEDGE
(a) Any person subject to this chapter who commits an act of sexual intercourse with a female not his wife, by force and without consent, is guilty of rape and shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct."


Also, if you read the UCMJ in the 'punitive articles' section, all articles have something along the lines of "punishment as a court-martial may direct."
Thus, the UCMJ itself sets no limits on punishment for any crimes, with the exception of in most crimes,the death penalty is not allowed, but beyond that, the court martial can punish essentially as it see fit, with the only restrictions being:

"855. ART. 55. CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS PROHIBITED.
Punishment by flogging, or by branding, marking, or tattooing on the body, or any other cruel or unusual punishment, may not be adjudged by a court-martial or inflicted upon any person subject to this chapter. The use of irons, single or double, except for the purpose of safe custody, is prohibited.

856. ART. 56. MAXIMUM LIMITS
The punishment which a court-martial may direct for an offense may not exceed such limits as the President may prescribe for that offense."

The UCMJ also allows "hard labor" as punishment still, too
"858. ART. 58. EXECUTION OF CONFINEMENT.

(b) The omission of the words "hard labor" from any sentence of a court-martial adjudging confinement does not deprive the authority executing that sentence of the power to require hard labor as a part of the punishment."

Cite for all above in quotes: http://www.constitution.org/mil/ucmj19970615.htm

In fact, in many ways it's a better system. It has enough personnel to operate as the Constitution and rules require. If you request a lawyer, you'll get one (generally right away). You get a jury of intelligent people (not the last 12 who couldn't find a good excuse) who can understand "reasonable doubt" and are willing to act on it. Sentencing is more humane than in federal district court and the prisons (but not necessarily the brigs) are well staffed and operated.

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From what i have read of the military criminal justice system, unless you go out of your way to annoy the powers that be, you have a much better chance of getting a fair trial than the civilian courts.

And often you can opt to allow your commander to set the punishment in lieu of a courtmartial. Its not quite a free pass, but the consequences are much lower. And your commander may (or may not) be inclined toward leniency.

I was in the Navy, and I can tell you that in many ways the military system I saw was rather unfair. We had a CO that routinely refused people the right to trial by courts-martial, and his personal favorite was to sentence people to confinement on bread and water for three days.

He once said (over the ship's television system) that if there was one officer who said an event happened one way, and there were 100 enlisted men with video cameras showing that the event happened a different way, that the officer is the one who is right. Since the rules of evidence do not apply unless you are in a courts martial, there is no appeal, no way to avoid this.

Real fair.

This one was done a long time ago. I should have closed it when it was clear that there were no more legal questions or issues to be covered.