Of course, no jail time for this piece of trash.

McCain campaign worker from College Station arraigned in made-up assault

11:45 AM CST on Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Associated Press

PITTSBURGH — A former John McCain campaign volunteer has been arraigned on charges that she falsely reported that a Barack Obama supporter robbed her and scratched a "B" on her cheek when he saw her McCain bumper sticker in Pittsburgh.

Ashley Todd, 21, of College Station, Texas, has completed her first interview to enter a probation program for first-time offenders under which her record can be expunged.

Because she is trying to enter the program, she didn't enter a plea at her arraignment Wednesday in Allegheny County Court. A judge must decide if she will be accepted into the program at a hearing May 22.

Authorities say Todd claimed she was attacked in late October, then admitted making the story up. She was found in need of mental health counseling.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/010708dnnatmccainfakeattack.108ba61.html

Sane people just couldn't think and act as they do. Well I hope she gets the help she needs and sees finally what a bunch of psychos Republicans are and leaves the party.

but I also don't think she should get her record expunged.

I should have said that I don't think it will teach her anything. If she is mentally ill, she should be receiving treatment for that. Society as a whole would be better served by her getting psychiatric help, just locking her up may very well make her worse and maybe even more of a danger.

Besides, I'm happy with the amount of public humiliation she got. :evilgrin:

There are many higher up Republicans who are more worthy of a jail cell than some idiot volunteer.

Would the justified self-embarassment still be punishment enough?

You can't go calculating punishments on the basis of 'what might have happened', because you can scale up the consequences for anything that way. I went for a drink the other night and had one more than I intended. Suppose I had stumbled in front of a car and caused an accident? Etc. etc..

you would still have been busted for DUI. Whether you hit someone or not.

and given the appropriate punishment based on the nature of the offense that occurred. You might get a few days in jail at the most if it's a first offense, and probably not even that. You'd get your license suspended, and have to pay a shit ton of fines, program fees, and increased insurance costs. You might also have to pick up trash on the side of the road wearing a nice orange vest.

In this case, the fact that there's a small chance of a race riot is not enough reason to justify punishment on a more serious level. It was ruled that she has mental health problems, and given what she did, I have no problem believing that ruling. Therefore, she gets treatment instead of jail. A wise choice in my opinion. I see no reason to become as reactionary as the Republicans are when it comes to dispensing law and order just because we really don't like her politics. I'd prefer for us to remain compassionate and just, rather than hateful and punitive.

No few days in jail. No fines. No orange vest. No nothing. 'Cause "It's OK If You're A Republican".

It only seems like a big deal because she made national news briefly, but in the end nobody got hurt and she didn't get any profit from it. Mental health counselling will probably help her.

if the races were reversed would the perpetrator get a slap on the wrist and the sympathy of people who claim that she needs help and not jail time?

I think not.

Regards

Pennsylvania law mandates that every county in the state have a first time offenders program (aka Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition).

Here are a couple of examples of its use/non-use:

Use: an African American college football player accused of assault.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3388656&type=story

Non-use: a white former minor league hall of fame pitcher accused of drunken driving and possession of cocaine.
http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=68695

Non-use: a white pastor accused of corrupting the morals of minors
http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_11177368?source=most_viewed

As far as I'm concerned, that's punishment enough. Jail wouldn't really do very much good. She's a sick person and there's too many of them in jail already. Unfair? Certainly. But I do think that in her case it's the right thing to do.

Just remember that everywhere she goes, she will be known as "that chick that cut her face up." Maybe I'm just a big softy, but when I think about what it must have been like to have been exposed like that, that's all the punishment I need.

This woman is obviously very troubled and needs help, not prison or jail time. Yes, what she did was terrible, but how we deal with people like her is something that shows the difference between us and Republicans.

This woman needs help that won't be found in a cell.

More important, will it be made available to all McCain supporters?

The kind that are sorely lacking after 8 years of Bushworld.

Next up -- DUers against parole.
:sarcasm:

Regards

She was voting for McCain/Palin for God's sake.

But what about the issue of lying to the police?