Jonathan Rojas - Module 3 Assignment

[jonrojas]

The main problem of this piece is whether Dorris deserves clemency or not for the crimes that she committed all of those years ago. She committed a crime when she was younger and than walked away from her prison sentence using a work permit that she acquired in prison and the help of her grandfather. Dorris's point of view shifts drastically as she gets older. She started out as a young woman making poor decisions which lead to her being arrested. The 8 months that she spent in prison showed her that she couldn't handle that lifestyle anymore. After breaking free of prison, she shifted her point of view to someone who is trying to do better a person and be a law abiding citizen. The fear of being caught kept her straight and narrow. This puts a strain on her husband for sure as finding out about her past must of been a shock. He decided to stand by her side and from his point of view, she has been nothing but a dedicated loving mother. This point of view can be shared by the children as well as they only ever saw their loving and caring mother doing the right thing and teaching them to stay away from drugs. Finding out about her past could potentially make the kids question who their mother is a as a person. Everyone around her, like her neighbors, would also be forced to rethink about who she is as a person. 

The idea that someone has of you is always influenced by what they know about you and what they can see on a day to day basis. Everyone around her only ever say this loving and caring mother and their foundation of their understanding about her is based off of that. Something like a criminal past coming back to haunt you in the present day can do a lot to shift that perspective that those around her have. The legal issue is in just as much of a gray area as well. One on hand she committed a crime and then ran away from her prison sentence but on the other hand she went on to live a respectable life and made sure to show her children the right way to leave. It can be argued that she should serve the time for the crimes committed but you can also argue the fact that she isn't causing anyone harm anymore. They did suspect that she had tied to the higher ups in the drug world and they do have circumstantial evidence proving those connections.

After giving this situation a lot of thought, I do think that she should at least serve some time for the crimes committed and the escape from prison. Maybe a reduced sentence could be pursued due to her good behavior after the fact. I do believe that everyone deserves a second chance but the escape from prison really pushed it over the edge for me. What kind of example would that be settings? Wouldn't she want her kids to see her own up to her mistakes and do the right thing? There wasn't a lot of information to go off of unfortunately but that is where my thinking landed.   

[John Uliano]

Hi Jon - similar to you, I was forced to make a decision with the information we had available, as my "thinking landed" as well on the belief that Doris should not be granted clemency. I take this as an example of only having 70% of the information we need when making a decision, and as echoed by Christine. I too think there could be some consideration given to a change in sentence of sorts.

[paulwickson]

Hi Jon. Thanks for the post.

Yes, there are lot's of factors at play here which could influence the decision. When you refer to not having a lot of information to go off, what further information might you have needed to enable you to come to a more informed decision?