Hey Rob Fans,

I thought I would share with you the Christmas present Rob sent me from the prison. This is a drawing rendering in chalk by another inmate named "Lex". Rob commissioned him to make it and told him what he wanted in the picture. It does not really look like us, but it does capture the "essence" of one of the things we miss most these days. He also sent me a card which was hand stitched by another creative inmate. Apparently people provide services for each other in exchange for commissary goods or other services. I just sent Rob his origami book and paper so he can try to repay some of those favors and also as another outlet to help preserve his creativity and his sanity.

There has not been much more news about the halfway house policy. A friend of ours lead me to a search which brought me to this article though: http://www.msnbc.com/news/850346.asp It is rather deceiving, what they are trying to convey to the public (no surprise there). It looks as though they are saying that most white collar criminals never serve any of their sentence in prisons even when that is what the sentence calls for. Although that may be true in some cases, it really has nothing to do with the outcome of this proposed change. All inmates, at least at the camp, regardless of their convictions, were given the option to transfer to the halfway house for the final 6 months of their sentences. There were some restrictions, I am sure. But now the DOJ wants to come down hard on white collar criminals. Okay. Well I think they have been doing just fine with that. I think Rob's 18 month sentence is a good example of that, don't you? Not to mention that he (and anyone else who goes to federal prison) will have a criminal record for the rest of his life. He will also be on probation for three years. Even if he was able to go to the halfway house for his final six months, he will have been sufficiently punished for his crime. The DOJ is trying to prevent judges from having the ability to sentence low level, first offence criminals to "community confinement" and to send them straight to prison. But isn't it up to a judge to decide the level of "wrong doing", the possibility of re-offence, and the level of punishment that is appropriate? If the Department of Justice has it's way, there won't be any need for judges whatsoever. The DOJ sets the guidelines for sentences and often the judges' rulings are ignored. It seems to me the judge should have the job of researching and deciding on each individual case based on the history of the person accused, the evidence and the severity of the crime. When he sentences a person to a certain number of years/months to whatever type of facility, he does that based on the individual circumstances. Who is the DOJ to take that power from him, and that privilege from the accused?

Anyway---Rob is still moving forward with his halfway house paperwork in the event that things go back to "normal" there. His current halfway house date is something like November 9, 2003. If it stays that way, there is really no point in going, and hopefully he can change his mind at the last minute and just stay at the camp for the last 6 weeks. Meanwhile the Bureau of Prisons is appealing the Department of Justice's decision to take away the halfway house privileges. Knowing how the timing works with these things, it probably won't make a difference for Rob. But we are always hopeful. :)

Rob is still working out and has lost 41 pounds to date! He is pretty
happy about that anyway.

Have a great weekend!
Shannon
www.freerobrothberg.com