http://www.change.org/petitions/justice-for-roy-brown?share_id=OxfZOVosuD&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter via @change
Roy Brown, a 55-year-old black homeless man, was sentenced to 15 years in jail after stealing a $100 bill from the Capitol One Bank in Shreveport, Louisiana. The bank teller handed him three bill stacks, and Brown handed it all back, save a single hundred dollar bill, which he explained he needed to "stay at the detox center." Desperate and hungry, he took the $100 (less than what a lot of us make in a day of work). Feeling remorse, he surrendered himself to police and told them "his mother didn't raise him that way."
Roy was charged with first degree robbery, and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Meanwhile, ex-mortgage CEO Paul R. Allen, a 55-year-old, was sentenced to a mere 40-months in prison in the state of Virginia after contributing to a $3 billion fraud scheme.
The punishment should fit the crime! Roy Brown stole money from a bank so he could have food and shelter, and turned himself in the next day. Paul Allen, on the other hand, helped steal more money than most people will ever make in their lifetimes. Roy has become a victim of a flawed system, and his circumstances are not uncommon. He represents one of the 700,000-2,000,000 homeless persons in America, and he deserves all the help and compassion that we can give. He has been handed a 15-year sentence which, at the age of 55, will mean he'll likely be released from jail by the time he's 70.
Roy is not a criminal. He is a victim of circumstance that, thanks to our government's unreasonable ability to control our debt, is becoming the reality for more and more people and families every day.
Please sign this petition to let Gov. Jindal know that you do not feel that Roy Brown's punishment appropriately fits his crime, and that you both support and demand a full pardon.
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