US legal system not far off Indonesia's

There's been plenty of outrage in Australia over Schappelle Corby's 20 year drug sentence for allegedly smuggling marijuana into Indonesia. And now, the discussion has reached daytime television in America.

Star Jones Reynolds, commenting on the View,

...showed the least compassion for Corby, sentenced last week to 20 years in a Bali jail for smuggling marijuana.

"You come to this country (US), you reap the benefits of our laws," Jones Reynolds said.

"You go and visit somebody else's country, then you have to adhere to their laws."

I know, it's really not fair to pick on The View. This week's guests included Christina Applegate and Carson Daly. But Star Jones is a former New York prosecutor! She worked in the Brooklyn DA's office.

The drug sentence Corby got is in line with what first time offenders get in New York for a hell of a lot less drugs under the infamously cruel Rockefeller laws. Star Jones worked for the same office that put Ivan Wright in prison for 19 years for selling small amounts of cocaine.

Now, I have a serious "there but for the grace of God go I" sympathy for Corby, and think it's a terrible injustice, even if she is guilty, but where's the sympathy for the young people in our country facing the same shit? Like Elaine Bartlett, who did 16 years for a first-time cocaine offense.

I'd comment on the racism here, but it'd be way too obvious.