Success!

One good thing that happened last week:

I have a client at prison who was arrested for assault and bailed out of jail. While he was out, he was arrested for his federal crime and sentenced to something like 12 years. So this old charge, which had turned into a warrant was hanging over his head. And so long as something like that is out there, he couldn't go to a halfway house and couldn't complete the full drug treatment program in prison. 48 states have signed on to something that means they have to deal with things like this if the inmate asks for it, but his warrant and assault were on one of the two that aren't signed on. So I spent June-January trying everything I could think of to get this judge in Mississippi to deal with it, I even found a Mississippi lawyer who was willing to help us out. Nothing ever worked and in February I finally told the client I was really sorry and fustrated (although I am sure not as frustrated as he is since I get to eat sushi and go to Target) but there was nothing we could do.
So meanwhile, the U.S. Sentencing Commission was reducing the disparity between cocaine and crack sentences, Congress was approving it and the world of federal criminal law was gearing to figure out what the hell was going to happen when the new guidelines went retroactive on March 3.
Well, apparently what the hell happened was that my client's sentence was effected and he was let out on the 4th. It's a strange and kind of unsatisfactory end to the whole episode. I mean, we count it as a "win," no doubt... but as wrong as it was to deny him the full drug treatment program and transitional housing as a policy... telling him to pack it up and get out after 10 or so years in prison is unsettling, too.

Unrelated:
In Madison, the mayor's name is "Mayor Dave" and he says it's spring time now.

And I like this. Because while I am pro-smoking ban, I am more pro-cleverness.