cannabisnews.com: Severely Disabled Offender To Do Prison Time Severely Disabled Offender To Do Prison Time Posted by FoM on February 11, 2000 at 10:04:43 PT By Tom Dean, esq., Litigation Director, NORML Source: NORML A Superior Court Judge in Mohave County has revoked the probation of a woman born with no arms or legs, and sentenced her to the Arizona Department of Corrections for one year, a prison sentence that will cost taxpayers more than $300 a day to accommodate the inmate.Corrections Director Terry L. Stewart expressed concern that a severely disabled woman was sentenced to prison time for violating probation on a minor drug offense, attempted sale of marijuana. "I simply can not understand how a judge can sentence a disabled woman to prison who presents absolutely no escape risk, no physical danger to the public, and who will be an extremely difficult and expensive person to care for, without exploring any alternative sentence measures such as intensive probation," Stewart said.Deborah Lynn Quinn, 39, arrived at the Arizona State Prison Complex Tucson- St. Mary’s Detention Ward yesterday. She was sentenced to prison by Mohave County Superior Court Judge Richard Weiss for violating her October,1999 sentence of probation which was imposed on her for selling 3.98 grams of marijuana for $20 to a police informant. The court found her in violation of her probation when probation officers, who were inspecting her residence, discovered three to four ounces of marijuana, and other items of drug paraphernalia in her home. A juvenile who resided with her was also found to be in possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.Quinn’s birth defects resulted in her having no arms, no right leg, and only a partial left leg which she uses to operate a battery powered wheelchair. Quinn requires around the clock care for feeding, bathing, and hygiene. As a result, the Department of Corrections has determined that its only alternative is to house Quinn at the extended care detention ward at St. Mary’s Hospital in Tucson. It will cost $345 a day, excluding whatever professional fees may arise. Corrections administrators also are researching the possibility of allowing Quinn to be medically furloughed to a residential setting where she would be under the intensive supervision of a Department parole officer."The plain and simple truth is the Department of Corrections is now faced with taking extraordinary measures to accommodate an inmate that probably could have been managed in the community at a reduced cost to the taxpayers of this state" Stewart said.News Release:Arizona Department of CorrectionsPublished: February 9, 2000http://www.adc.state.az.us:81/News/2000/news00-02-09.htmSubmitted To CannabisNews by Tom Dean, esq., Litigation Director, NORML Foundation CannabisNews Search & Archives of NORML Related News Articles:http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/list/NORML.shtmlhttp://www.alltheweb.com/cgi-bin/asearch?type=all&query=cannabisnews+NORML Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by Jim Koch on February 11, 2000 at 20:58:46 PT: SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW Just a case of typcal American Justice. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on February 11, 2000 at 14:01:08 PT Don't congratulate yourself too soon, friend Uncle Sam's schizophrenia about drugs is infectious. Just look at your C-8 laws for the proof. Look at the recent arrests made at a Compassionate Club in Toronto; did you think that didn't happen without a lot of pressure from the US, after Canada announced its own MMJ program? And when there are probably US murderers hiding out in BC, the US government is expending enormous resources and political pressure on Canadian officials to extradite Rene Boje? Can any Canadian honestly believe a border will save them from DrugWar madness when the US State Department was seriously considering to declare Canada an 'unfriendly nation' because your government wasn't 'concerned' enough about the (wonderful!) BC bud travelling South? Uncle's mania knows no bounds, as those of us who have tangled directly with it can tell you.Insanity is like diseases, pollution and nuclear fallout: it is respective of no national borders. My country's insanity is now beginning to find a toe-hold in yours. A lot of your pols sound as if they were McCaffrey clones when it comes to illicit drugs. If it isn't smacked down hard whenever it rears it's ugly head, you are soon going to have the same craziness-as-policy that we do. No one is safe until US poolicy changes. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by CongressmanSuet on February 11, 2000 at 13:55:04 PT "This woman is a grave threat to our society.... ....no arms, no legs, no problem. We will be able to hire a few more "medical" guards to see that she is assisted in eating the prison food, I mean, we can always use a few new members in the Prison Guard Union". This article is a PERFECT example of this madness run amok. I can only hope this is picked up by a few major papers. This woman is being jailed for violating probation by having cannabis in her possesion [ a few ounces, pitiful by dealers standards]. And the actual offense was for selling 3 grams to a narc? What kind of mentality must a narc possess to actually "go after" a handicapped person like this? Incredible!!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Uncle-Bob on February 11, 2000 at 11:38:04 PT: Can't understand it... America...The land of the free...and home of the brave? yeah...right. So this is how big brother takes care of the disabled? Deborah Quinn is another example of how the madnesss of the war on drugs does nothing but futher hurt and damage the underpriveledged, sick, dying and disabled... There's no such thing as rights or freedom unless you have the money and community backing/stature to defend them. I am glad to live in Canada...where our government is at least making some effort to take a progressive view of the situation... I won't be visiting the USA again any time soon... 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