Cory Maye, about whose case I’ve blogged previously (here, here, here, and here), is finally due to be released. (CHT Sheldon.) It falls short of what he deserves – he was required to plead guilty to manslaughter for exercising his right to defend himself and his family, and he’s being offered no compensation for the unjust treatment he has received – but it beats being murdered by the state or spending the rest of his life in a cage, the two fates that judges had previously chosen for him.
All honour to Radley Balko for his untiring efforts to keep this case before the public!
Addendum:
If you’re interested in donating to help Maye get his life back together, Radley has details.
Thanks for posting… that’s the best I’ve felt donating to a charitable cause in a good while.
Unfortunately, he’ll have to go through life saddled with a criminal record that now, instead of being clean, contains a class D felony.
Check out the penalty for manslaughter in Mississippi:
“Any person convicted of manslaughter shall be fined in a sum not less than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail not more than one year, or both, or in the penitentiary not less than two years, nor more than twenty years.” (bolding mine)
They lock you up for (a) not more than one year, or (b) not more than twenty years. I wonder what brilliant man came up with that…