When Kent Hovind was facing another conviction last year that would have meant much more time in federal prison, a fair analysis might be that his liberty was saved by sharp legal work orchestrated by Ernie Land and a bit of jury nullification by the jury foreman Don Camacho
It is hard to believe though that the Hovindication movement did not play some role, if nothing else in keeping up Kent Hovind’s spirits. I think it is fair to say that the most vocal and passionate of the Hovindicators was Rudy Davis, whose youtube channel LoneStar1776 was pretty much “All Doc Dino All The Time” for the duration.
What I find interesting is that Rudy’s concern for Kent Hovind has, if you will forgive the expression, evolved into a larger concern for prisoners and conditions in prison. I like to look for area of agreement with people from whom I sharply differ. Frankly, I think Kent Hovind and some of the other people that Rudy champions have largely created their own problems, but overall, I have to agree with Rudy and Kent that imprisoning people is a really dumb way to punish them. That I don’t agree with them on re-instituting flogging and much more liberal use of the death penalty is neither here nor there. Actually, I don’t know where Rudy is on flogging. He is big on the death penalty though.
Regardless, I would like to share without editorializing the prisoners that Rudy is currently looking out for.
Francis S. Cox #16179-006
USP Marion
PO Box 1000
Marion, IL. 62959
Lonnie G. Vernon #16172-006
PO Box 33
Terre Haute, In. 47808
Karen L. Vernon #16176-006
FCI Waseca
PO Box 1731
Waseca, MN. 56093
Daniel Riley #14528-052
FCI Danbury
Federal Correctional Institution
Route 37
Danbury, CT. 06811
Edward Brown #03923-049
FCI Cumberland
Federal Correctional Institution
PO Box 1000
Cumberland, MD. 21501
Elaine Brown #03924-049
FCI Aliceville
Federal Correctional Institution
PO Box 4000
Aliceville, AL. 35442
Charles Dyer 659682
LCCC Unit 5 H-2-H
PO Box 260
Lexington, OK. 73051
Peter T. Santilli #79401065
Nevada Southern Detention Center
2190 East Mesquite Avenue
Pahrump, NV. 89060
Audio link
The Bundey’s and All of the Oregon Patriots
Russell D. Landers #05177-046
PO Box 33
Terre Haute, IN. 47808
Blackwater River Correctional Facility
Shawn Stuller DC# P43632
5914 Jeff Ates Rd.
Milton, FL. 32583
JASON GERHARD 20229-045
FCI Allenwood Low
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 1000
WHITE DEER, PA 17887
You may be dismissive of Rudy’s concern based on the views of those he is supporting, but what I would challenge you to do is think of people in prison for civil disobedience that you might approve of or just wrongly there and see how you might do something to help them.
I’ll leave it at that.
________________________________________________________________________
Peter J Reilly CPA is an occasional viewer of LoneStar1776, He thinks Rudy Davis is wrong about a lot of things, but admires his spirit.
More and more I see Kent and Rudy as performance artists, and the props they have chosen to use in their schtick (i.e., prison reform) does not convince me that they have any serious interest in their props.
In my opinion, whether it is the IRS, DHS, BOP, DMV, ad nauseum, one would do well to not use Kent Hovind and Rudy Davis, or their co-conspirators, in support of a cause.
I notice that Rudy has not taken up the Baby Holm Parents cause, in support of Brady Byrum's secret meddling in that case.
We'll see, but I'm thinking using Baby Holm as a poster child for DHS abuse is going to backfire on the Parents' Promoters.
Shame on them all for now stooping so low to involve the life of a newborn in their sovcit, anti-vaxx, conspiracy silliness.
I meant to say "Rudy has NOW taken up the Baby Holm Parents cause".
Sorry about that!
None of the criminals that Rudy supports are incarcerated for committing civil disobedience. They are a collection arch criminals, blood lusting terrorists and child molesters/rapists. Rudy is a pathological liar and is delusional. His deviant behaviors have nothing to do with compassion or empathy for those incarcerated.
Peter, I share Rudy's and your disgust at the state of the US criminal justice system. The US incarcerates seven times the number of its citizens than the EU average. To put it another way, the United States would have to close six out of every seven prisons just to get down to the prison population typical of other democratic nations.
So much for "The Land of the Free."
The reasons for this appalling state of affairs are many and complex, but the bottom line is that right wing politics led the way over the last 30 years. As the saying goes "Nobody lost an election by being too tough on crime" and the Republicans have exploited this maxim to its fullest. I don't absolve the political left, who were too often cowed into following along, but I don't believe it's a coincidence that the most conservative democratic nation in the world has the most punitive criminal justice system. It is a feature, not a bug.
Clearly, major reforms are needed. The current plea bargain system is little more than legalized extortion, forcing even innocent people to accept deals or face the almost impossible task of proving their innocence with a public defender who, if they're lucky, has spent a couple of days on their case. Along with mandatory minimum sentence laws, the plea bargain system means that the fates the accused rest almost entirely with the prosecuting attorney (who often have personal political ambitions that conflict with the requirements of justice) and judges often left with no discretion when it comes to sentencing those found guilty.
Private prisons are an abomination, but sadly any progress made in reversing their appalling record (at the federal level, at least) will come to an end with the new administration, which wants to privatize everything. And sadly, too many American conservatives who are perfectly happy to spend billions in incarcerating criminals for decades, aren't willing to spend a single penny when it comes to rehabilitation and their reintegration into society, thus merely storing up more trouble down the road.
All that said, Peter, I'm not convinced that Rudy's rogues galley is the best argument against sending people to prison. Each case is different, of course, and those of Pete Santilli and perhaps even Schaeffer Cox don't merit lengthy prison sentences, but what else do you suggest for the likes of Kent Hovind, and Ed and Elaine Brown, who had years and multiple chances to settle their cases with the federal government before they even faced the risk of prison time?
If the Browns had accepted the court's original verdict and sentencing they would have been out of prison five years ago already instead of facing the rest of their lives behind bars.
If the Hovinds and the Browns of this world were to remain free and unpunished for their steadfast refusal to pay taxes, then why would anyone bother paying their taxes? The entire system would break down.
The real problem here is not concept of prison, it is the implementation, which is far too punitive. If you reduced the number and length of custodial sentences to the EU average, and invested real money in the reform and rehabilitation of the prison population, there would much less to object to.
And if a fairer, more rational criminal justice system meant that people like Kent Hovind only spent a 18 months behind bars instead of ten years (for a first offense), then I'm fine with that.
I do respect Rudy's determination when it comes to speaking out for those in prison, but I completely reject his premise of his mission — that the government is deliberately targeting and persecuting outspoken Christian conservatives, which is nothing more than the usual conspiratorial nonsense he's railed about his entire YouTube career (9/11, New World Order, anti-Federal Reserve, birtherism, etc.).
Continuing my comment…
So, Peter, I would be interested to know more about your opposition to prison as a form of punishment. Would you be happy if we had a system in line with those of other democratic nations that do a much better job when it comes to criminal justice, or are you suggesting a more radical approach? I'm assuming you don't mean something like the common law system that sovereign citizens and the patriot movement want.
I think if the IRS was better funded and more vigorous in enforcement it has the financial tools to make life utterly miserable for tax defiers without locking them up. Of course, the Browns take it to the next level and arguably were an armed threat.
Prison as we know it was originally a reform and its goal was to get people to reform not simply punish them. I think that the only people who should be locked up are the physically dangerous.
Financial penalties and things like shaming can take care of the others.
Thanks for replying, Peter. I thought I had posted a long reply to this comment yesterday, but I guess I must have previewed without posting. Oops.
The gist of my comment was that if the system worked as well as it did in, say, Norway, then we wouldn't be having this discussion.
However, as left wing as I am about criminal justice reform, I can't agree that prison is never the answer for non-violent crimes.
Kent Hovind may be small fry when it comes to tax fraud, but he has no shame when it comes to tax matters, and nor does Ed Brown. They don't believe they have anything to be shameful of — quite the opposite in fact. They both had years to come to terms with the IRS, yet were steadfast in their denial they did anything wrong. If there was a way to punish them for their law breaking and correct their behavior without prison, then I'd be very surprised.
The only tax protesters you hear about are the likes of Hovind and Brown precisely because they are the most intransigent cases. The rest agree to settle with the IRS for fines and back taxes.
Also, Bernie Madoff is not a violent felon, but he still destroyed the lives of many people. I don't think you will find many people who believes he doesn't deserve a decent amount of jail time for his crimes.
Reform of the criminal justice system is something that the extreme left, the extreme right and everybody in between can agree on.
I wish you were right, but the extreme right's vision of prison reform isn't rooted in reality. Kent Hovind wants floggings, Rudy Davis wants hangings, and Schaeffer Cox wants outlawry, if you can believe that! And their ideas about common law courts are laughable. They would be far more open to corruption than anything we have today.
Some on the less-extreme right, like Grover Norquist are waking up to the issue — because they have finally recognized that government is spending far too much on the incarceration of too many people, and are beginning to accept the argument that if you strengthen the reform aspect of the criminal justice system, and endeavor to keep more people out of it in the first place, you can save a ton of money.
It's a start, but there is a long way to go.