Walter Gray gets life for selling dope near a school – a building not used as a school for 5 years
When he was 27 years old, Gray sold three pieces of crack cocaine to an undercover police investigator for $60. The sale, which Gray admits he participated in occurred across from an abandoned school building.
According to the superintendent of the school district, the building had not been used as a school for four or five years. However, Gray’s attorney did not investigate this or address it during his trial.
Upon sentencing Gray to life, the judge told him, “Mr. Gray, the Court takes no pleasure in this.”Many have done a lot worse things than you and not have had ... to suffer what you’re about to”.
After the sentence was pronounced, Gray asked the court for an opportunity to see his family, with whom he had not been able to physically interact since he was incarcerated in county jail for the previous eight to nine months. Acknowledging that “I’m going to prison for the rest of my life,” Gray asked the court for a chance to “say last goodbye and touch their hand and say I love you.”
Gray earned his GED in prison in 1996. He says he has been unable to take other courses, however, because of his life-without-parole sentence.
Gray told the ACLU, “To receive a life sentence without parole is a death sentence; family and friends forget you every year goes by.”
According to Gray, being separated from friends and family makes him feel “empty, hurt, alone, and unloved.” He reports that he has changed and accepts responsibility for his actions,
Read full story at ACLU Special Report. A Living Death: Life Without Parole for Nonviolent Offenses.
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As voters, citizens, taxpayers and bystanders, we as a society have inhumanely punished thousands of nonviolent people. Currently Washington DC and 30 states have compensation statutes for wrongfully convicted inmates. Congress’ recommended amount is $63,000 for each year served. On the other hand, overly sentenced victims who in many cases have suffered equally or worse typically receive $20 and a bus ticket if they are fortunate enough to ever be released.
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