Don't party in Nebraska

[Lyion]

You could go to jail!

[Minrott]

He said his name was on the lease, so he pleaded no contest. One of the charges was dismissed.

Just another example of why you should never cooperate with the police once you've been detained. Shut your mouth and only open it to say "I wish to retain council."

[Lyion]

Generally if you plead no contest to a misdemeanor you don't get 30 days in jail.

The problem was this judge. This highlights the overwhelming power of the judicial branch in this country. This kid clearly should not have been put in jail.

[Captain Insano]

Big brother is in full effect these days.

[brinstar]

let me tell you something i've learned from working in, around, and with the justice system here in lincoln-- Judge Gale Pokorny is a bit of a loose cannon sometimes. most of the time he's pretty entertaining. i've read several of the 2½ page+ sentencing orders to which the article refers, and i always get a kick out of his editorializing. i have agreed with about 95% of the hundreds of sentences he's handed down since i started working here 3 years ago. usually he handles mostly domestic violence cases, and you can tell he is genuinely concerned about punishing and rehabilitating offenders as well as preserving the rights and the voices of the victims. it is for these and several other reasons that i believe he is a good judge.

however, this sentence crosses the line in my opinion, and the biggest reason is that this kid wasn't even at the party. Pokorny made valid points in his sentencing order regarding the possibilities of alcohol poisoning, violence, vandalism, and the disturbance of public peace-- and fair enough, having 170 people over at your house in the suburbs for a barnburner of a party is never a good idea-- but this kid was out of town visiting his parents when the party occurred. he was charged with this offense because his name was on the lease. the other two guys on the lease who actually threw the party paid fines and walked out of court, whereas this kid has to sleep at the big house for a month. seems backwards to me.

there's probably a side to the story not explained in the article, so tomorrow i'll try to find out more about the case-- but as it stands... bad call.

[Captain Insano]

did you go to the party? DID IT RAWKZOR?!1

[Diekan]

Generally if you plead no contest to a misdemeanor you don't get 30 days in jail.

The problem was this judge. This highlights the overwhelming power of the judicial branch in this country. This kid clearly should not have been put in jail.

Just goes to show how completely fucked (for lack of better terms) our justice system is - and why it needs to be revamped.

This guy gets jail time for some bullshit, while a child molester in Mass gets 6 weeks.