Hey everyone, this is my first post. It's a very important one, and has to do with a member of this site, Derek Twyman (you can see his ad in the section dedicated to those seeking legal support).

A campaign is now underway to put intense pressure on North Carolina, Canadian, and U.S. officials in regards to Derek's case. Please forward the article below to as many folks as you know, and don't forget to sign this petition to help Derek gain the justice and freedom he deserves:

Justice for Derek Twyman Petition

-----

A Punishment of Unusual Cruelty
By Shane Martinez

From time to time we read or hear about sentences for startling amounts of time to be served by those convicted of serious crimes south of the border. Hundreds of years in prison or multiple life sentences are examples of some of the extreme punishments ordered by U.S. judges in cases where society is expected to agree that the crime committed is simply so heinous that the offender should never be free again.

What are some of the offences which come to mind when reading of sentences so grave that they effectively eradicate any true liberty the convicted person may ever enjoy again someday? Murder? Rape? Terrorism? Indeed it must be a type of crime sufficiently horrific and appalling that it would cause any reasonable person to nod their head in agreement with the sentence and bid good riddance to the accused.

Would burglary be such a crime?

Derek Twyman was 14-years-old when he and his family moved from the province of Ontario to the state of North Carolina. His father, Donald, had plans to start a furniture business there, and the family was going to build a future for themselves in the south. Unfortunately, shortly after moving to the U.S., Derek fell in with the wrong crowd and got caught up in a lifestyle that included a tendency to participate in acts of juvenile delinquency.

In 1989 he was on parole when he was picked up by the police in connection with a series of break-and-enters of homes belonging to affluent residents in North Carolina. Derek plead guilty to the offences he was accused of, but was shown little mercy by Judge Thomas W. Ross, who sentenced him to four consecutive 40-year sentences in prison – an astonishing total of 160 years behind bars for non-violent property offences.

The law that provided for such an excessive sentence was the misnamed Fair Sentencing Act, which was replaced in 1994 by the Structured Sentencing Act in an attempt to restore credibility and appropriateness to sentencing. Under the new law, someone who is facing the charges that Derek did in 1989 would only serve a maximum of 7 ½ years upon conviction, as opposed to the unthinkable century and a half given to Derek.

Putting aside for a moment the well-founded allegations that the original sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, many would think that the new law would at least apply retroactively in order to halt the continuation of unjust sentences set down under the old law. Unfortunately, the Structured Sentencing Act does not apply to offences committed before October 1994, undeterred by the fact that a comparison between the old and new legislation clearly depicts a gross disproportionality between the sentences that raises serious constitutional concerns.

And given that Canada is the only country to which Derek holds citizenship, where might the political forces of Ottawa enter into this mess? Nowhere it seems. Despite Canada being a signatory to the International Prisoner Transfer Program with the U.S., Derek says that to date the Canadian government has not yet attempted to help him in any way, instead choosing to ignore such inhumane treatment of a Canadian citizen imprisoned abroad. If one looks to the requirements a prisoner must meet in order to be considered for a transfer, he is a perfect candidate with the exception of one thing: restitution.

The presiding judge who sentenced Derek to prison also ordered that he pay over $60,000 in restitution to the affluent residents whose homes he was convicted of burglarizing, even though insurance policies likely covered most (if not all) of the losses. The restitution order states that this amount must be paid before Derek can even be considered for deportation to Canada. Apparently it wasn't considered at sentencing that the convicted person going to prison for 160 years eliminates any realistic possibility of the restitution ever being paid.

Nor did it appear to dawn on the court that by the time Derek is eligible for his next parole review (on merely the second of the four 40-year sentences) the total cost of incarcerating him will be approximately $675,000. In the unlikely event that the intended recipients of the restitution were not covered by insurance, and actually needed it as compensation, the potential fulfillment of that opportunity was most definitely quashed in the most ironic of ways.

So, does the punishment fit the crime? Would you try to justify the lifetime imprisonment of a non-violent offender if it was you who lost a few material possessions? Would you shrug and try to rationalize it if the person locked up was a loved one of yours? Would you sit quietly in your concrete cell as the years passed by, trying to convince yourself that you deserve to never have your freedom again?

Even through the desperate arguments that the prison sentence and accompanying restitution were attempts at promoting deterrence, this entire fiasco reeks of a typical “tough on crime” attitude gone terribly wrong. Word of this travesty is spreading, but at the present time Derek's liberty is the price being paid for the complete and ignominious failure that was the Fair Sentencing Act.

Derek hasn't lost hope. Having now spent over 18 years behind bars for this crime, he still manages to keep his spirit up and remains confident that people will take notice of this injustice. No human being should have to endure the kind of wrongful treatment that he has been subjected to. Now is the time for all of us to add our voices to the growing call for Derek Twyman’s long overdue release.

-----

To help Derek gain the justice and freedom he deserves, please take a moment to sign this online petition:

Justice for Derek Twyman Petition

[Inmate address removed by moderator - refer to inmates ad for contact information]