Justice Served? Man Serving Life Sentence For Stealing TV: Parole For 1970 Crime Denied 25 Times
Who says justice isn't blind? And, apparently, deaf and dumb....
I don't think I got no justice at all. Not no 33 years for a TV. A black and white TV.
- Junior Allen
(thanks, Adam!!!)
Junior Allen committed a crime. He has never denied culpability nor attempted to evade responsibility for his misdeed. He stole a television worth $140, and he went to prison, where he is still paying for his transgression. The problem here is that he went to prison in 1978. Not only that, he had been denied parole 25 times. THIS is justice? Apparently it's what passes for it in North Carolina, where flushing a man's life away seem to carry no particular stigma.
In 1970, a day laborer named Junior Allen was given a life sentence for a crime he would likely get probation for today.
Some in the legal community believe the case demonstrates a need to bring the past more in line with the present, when you consider that North Carolina's prison population is 30 percent over capacity, with no sign of letting up.
A jury convicted Allen of second-degree burglary for stealing a $140 television set from a home in Johnston County. Judge James Pou Bailey sent Allen to prison for life....
Prosecutor Mike Beam became Allen's most unlikely ally two years ago, when he worked for the county that put Allen behind bars.
"I've never heard anything like this," Beam said. "In my personal opinion, it's time to let him go, turn the key."
After learning of Allen's case, Beam wrote a letter to the North Carolina Parole Commission and even helped find Allen a lawyer.
"Had Mike Beam not taken an interest in this case, he'd be there the rest of his life," said Rick Rosen, who now represents Allen.
Rosen said the Parole Commission holds the key to Allen's freedom.
"He didn't get a hearing last year. We were not allowed to go to the Parole Commission. We had to submit something in writing," Rosen said.
The Parole Commission responded with the following statement: "Your release at this time would unduly depreciate the seriousness of the crime."
It was the 25th straight year Allen was denied parole.
Of course, there is the question of why a man was sentenced to life in prison for stealing a television valued at all of $140. The fact that Allen was a poor African-American certainly didn't do him any favors in a state not exactly famous for harmonious race relations.
The larger, and even more disturbing, question is why Allen was denied parole 25 years running. Surely somewhere along the line, someone looked at his case and thought "Isn't this a travesty? Shouldn't something be done to right this wrong? Hasn't this man long since paid his debt to society?" You would think, but would be wrong, and that is a tragedy- for Junior Allen, and for the people of North Carolina.
The criminal justice system of the state of North Carolina took a man's life from him. What is truly sad about this egregious miscarriage of justice is that if not for the compassion of one prosecutor, Junior Allen would like die behing bars- all for the mortal sin of stealing a $140 television. Un-freakin'-believable....
What's more...shouldn't we be able to hold someone accountable for taking Junior Allen's life away from him? What about the judge who originally sentenced him to life in prison? For stealing a television? What about the various members of the parole board, who for 25 years have steadfastly refused to parole someone who clearly had paid his debt to society? There is no doubt plenty of blame to go around in this sad story, but the truly sad reality is that, in the end, it is doubtful that ANYONE will be held accountable. We will all cluck about the sad, miserable reality that is Junior Allen's fate, but what, really, will come out of this sorry episode? In a word- nothing. That would require someone taking responsibility for the shortcoming's of North Carolina's criminal justice system. No one should be holding their breath on that one....
