PETITION CLOSED

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Justice For Roy Brown!
  1. Signatures
    453 out of 500,000
    Petitioning
    1. Louisiana State Senate, Louisiana State House, Gov. Bobby Jindal
  2. Created By
    Whitney Co-Cane
    Fairfield, CT
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

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.

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Pardon Roy Brown or Lessen His Sentence!

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: Louisiana State Senate, Louisiana State House, Gov. Bobby Jindal.

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Pardon Roy Brown or Lessen His Sentence!

Greetings,

I desire and support a full pardon of Mr. Roy Brown’s unfairly severe sentencing resulting from stealing a $100 bill from the Capitol One Bank in Shreveport, Louisiana in December of 2007. Mr. Brown is a 55-year-old homeless man who stole the money because he was hungry and needed shelter. He turned himself into police the next day, and yet has been made a martyr by the Louisiana jury who convicted him.

He is currently serving a fifteen-year sentence for stealing $100, and likely will not be release until he turns 70 years of age. He has been robbed of the opportunity to correct his life and remain in the detox facility he had been staying in. He has essentially been handed a life sentence for attempting to clean his life up and better himself in ways that the Louisiana government and community failed to help him with. Had he gained the proper help and attention he so desperately needed, he would not have stooped to robbing the $100 bill from the bank. Considering the overwhelming economic troubles affecting so many U.S. citizens, Mr. Brown’s desperation and circumstance is a reality for a significant portion of Americans. We should be banning together and helping those who need it, not turn them into examples and highlight the flaws of our justice system.

The sentence is ridiculously severe and overwhelmingly inappropriate. It is appalling considering how many mortgage company CEOs and others have stolen money from the American public and crippled our economy through fraud and dishonesty. Roy Brown’s punishment in no way appropriately fits his crime, and I urge you to issue him a full pardon.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your name]

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