'To Bail or Not To Bail...that is the question' ...

When my young son was arrested and prosecuted (like hundreds of thousands of young men and women in this country’s failed War on Drugs)for selling marijuana, he was denied bail. He sat in the tiny cell of the county jail for the duration of the year it took to prosecute him. Nor was he ever granted release from prison pending either of the appeals he fought hard for. My son is a first-time, non violent offender.

Today when I read the following article I was still somehow stunned and angered by its content. I would think by now, having been on this prison journey supporting my son for the past 7 ½ years of a 12 ½ year sentence, I would be immune to the startling disparities in our “justice” system. Seems not. I still saw red.

Read below of how EX PROSECUTOR (Bangor, Maine) James Cameron, found guilty of child pornography, and sentenced to 16 years in prison (the minimum and mandatory Sentencing Guidelines recommended 22 to 27 years) has now been released from prison pending his appeal. Clearly, contributing to and inflicting violence on children, and having been himself in a position of power and authority, no doubt prosecuting such cases himself, is not considered as dangerous to our communities as releasing on bail, a young man convicted of selling marijuana to consenting adults. I am not arguing so much the fact this man was freed pending bail, as it seems “security measures” are in place to protect the community from him, but I am spotlighting the severe disparity issues in our system. Freed on bail…why this man and why not my son? Is there anyone out there who can see why this man deserves to be free pending his appeals and the countless thousands of non-violent young drug (marijuana) offenders would never be.

“Fiddle dee dee…I can’t think of this right now. If I do I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about it tomorrow“. (Scarlet O’Hara, Gone with The Wind)


Ex-prosecutor in prison for child porn offenses released pending appealhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff
Posted Aug. 12, 2011, at 8:31 a.m.

BANGOR, Maine — The former state prosecutor incarcerated at a federal prison in Colorado on child pornography charges has been released, according to information on the U.S. Bureau of Prisons inmate locator website.

James Cameron, 49, of Hallowell was released from federal prison in Colorado late Thursday or early Friday after the judge who sentenced him set bail conditions Thursday.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston on Tuesday ruled that Cameron could be freed on bail while his appeal is pending. The case was remanded to U.S. District Judge John Woodcock in Bangor to set bail conditions.

The appellate court’s ruling reversed Woodcock’s denial of Cameron’s request for post-conviction bail in May.

Cameron, who was the state’s top drug prosecutor in the Maine Attorney General’s Office, was incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institute Englewood in Littleton, Colo., according to the inmate locator website. The minimum-security facility is located about 15 miles southwest of Denver.

Woodcock’s post-conviction bail order, issued about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, allowed Cameron to be released on $75,000 unsecured bail, wear a GPS monitor and register as a sex offender