Maybe Just a Little Extreme Over-Reaction?

[KarateCowboy]

The flag was hanging outside a 'United Church of Christ', The ones who hung the flag should be getting the fifteen years!

Agreed. Perversity speech is not free speech.

 

[TheLostCoin]

The constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishments. The courts have long held that excessive fines and incarcerations fall under that definition......

Yes...but no. The proportionality doctrine only requires there to be a "rough" correspondence between the severity of the crime and the punishment. The only time that the courts take the 8th amendment seriously for proportionality is when issues like the death penalty come up.

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

He was charged with a hate crime ... because his stealing and burning of the flag ... was just the latest in a history of harassment of that particular church and its membership.

17 years for taking a flag with a retail value of less than $20. That's usually petty larceny, a misdemeanor. It would have been had he done it to an American flag.

 

[tulc]

Did an Iowa Man Get 16 Years in Prison for Burning an LGBT Rainbow Flag?
tulc(thought this would help explain what's happening)

 

[A_Thinker]

Did an Iowa Man Get 16 Years in Prison for Burning an LGBT Rainbow Flag?
tulc(thought this would help explain what's happening)

Good luck getting anyone to read it ...

 

[tulc]

Good luck getting anyone to read it ...

I can only post the link, information should be available no matter if anyone reads it or not.
tulc(needs more coffee soon)

 

[NBB]

Did an Iowa Man Get 16 Years in Prison for Burning an LGBT Rainbow Flag?
tulc(thought this would help explain what's happening)

So instead of burning 1 flag, he burned 3, its too much still.
I mean if you hurt someone badly or murder someone you should get 15 years.

 

[tulc]

So instead of burning 1 flag, he burned 3, its too much still.
I mean if you hurt someone badly or murder someone you should get 15 years.

...did you read the link?
tulc(because they made it it pretty clear the flag burning was only a small part of what he was sentenced about)

 

[NBB]

...did you read the link?
tulc(because they made it it pretty clear the flag burning was only a small part of what he was sentenced about)

Yes more or less, disdemeanor, settings things on fire, and harrasment, still he did not hurt anybody, imagine going 15 years to prison for that.
I wonder if he set a house on fire? but flags...
Nowadays people get 'harrased' by anything anyway. I wonder how was it really.

 

[A_Thinker]

So instead of burning 1 flag, he burned 3, its too much still.

He had threatened to burn down an establishment.

We don't know what his other (2) felonies were.

Prosecutors considered him very dangerous, incorrigible, and totally lacking in remorse.

It should be noted that, with good behavior, he could only have to serve 5 years (i.e. 1/3 of the sentence) ...

 

[civilwarbuff]

Well one thing is sure....we can all sleep better tonight knowing that rainbow flags have the full support and backing of the Iowa judiciary.....

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

Did an Iowa Man Get 16 Years in Prison for Burning an LGBT Rainbow Flag?
tulc(thought this would help explain what's happening)

Several news articles failed to mention that Martinez' sentence would not have been nearly so long if he had not already been convicted of two previous felonies and treated as an "habitual offender," in keeping with Iowa state law. In that circumstance, his criminal history tripled the maximum available sentence for arson from five years to 15 years.

We're all well aware of that. The point still stands - what would otherwise be a misdemeanor was turned into a felony based on a politically motivated "hate crime" charge. This is a perfect example of how Snopes nitpicks on matters of marginal relevance to spin statements that are perfectly true as "partly true" or even "mostly false".

 

[Shrewd Manager]

Why can I never trust FOX to tell the whole story ...

From Iowa man sentenced to 16 years for setting LGBTQ flag on fire

"Story County Attorney Jessica Reynolds said the hate crime charges were added because Martinez is suspected of criminal mischief against someone's property because of "what it represents as far as sexual orientation."

He faced a maximum of five years in prison for the hate crime and arson charge and a maximum of a year and month for the other two charges, according to Iowa sentencing guidelines. Court records list him as a habitual offender, allowing him to be sentenced to a longer prison term.

His record I'm guessing discloses prior offences of burning the Nasa flag, desecrating the McDonald's arches and defacing Snoopy merchandise at Disneytown. This was a case of 'one iconoclasm too far'.

 

[tulc]

(snip) This was a case of 'one iconoclasm too far'.

okay...I have to admit, that was pretty funny!
tulc(will throw in extra points for successfully working "iconoclasm" into a post!)

 

[tulc]

We're all well aware of that. The point still stands - what would otherwise be a misdemeanor was turned into a felony based on a politically motivated "hate crime" charge. This is a perfect example of how Snopes nitpicks on matters of marginal relevance to spin statements that are perfectly true as "partly true" or even "mostly false".

Okay so it's noted that you're criticizing Snopes because they try and make their assessments of things as accurate as possible...
tulc(is pretty sure that's kind of what a fact checkers job description is all about determining whats true and what's not)

 

[Shrewd Manager]

okay...I have to admit, that was pretty funny!
tulc(will throw in extra points for successfully working "iconoclasm" into a post!)

Just used it to avoid any pleonasm.

 

[LostMarbels]

So? The third strike laws, and in fact, mandatory minimums in toto, are stupid.

What did he get the habitual for? Other speech against gays?

I read the article all I see is he was habitual.

 

[ArmenianJohn]

Iowa man who sets LGBTQ flag on fire gets over 15 years in prison
Iowa man who sets LGBTQ flag on fire gets over 15 years in prison

As someone who has no problem with the burning of the American flag I find this to be ridiculous if the fact really is that he got 15 years just for burning this flag.

 

[Yarddog]

As someone who has no problem with the burning of the American flag I find this to be ridiculous if the fact really is that he got 15 years just for burning this flag.

Evidence proves that he didn't receive the sentence "just for burning that flag".

 

[Archivist]

As someone who has no problem with the burning of the American flag I find this to be ridiculous if the fact really is that he got 15 years just for burning this flag.

Again, there is a difference between burning a flag that belongs to you and burning someone else’s property. It isn’t legal to burn either an American flag or a rainbow flag if someone else owns it. If it belongs to you, on the other hand, you can do what you can take it out in your front yard and burn it so long as you are not violating local burning ordinances.