Willie Junior Simmons, an Army veteran, has been in prison for over 40 years for stealing $9.
Simmons grew up poor and eventually joined the Army, but he became addicted to drugs while serving overseas.
Because of his earlier relatively minor non-violent convictions, and Alabama’s harsh Habitual Offender Law, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
His trial in 1982 lasted all of 25 minutes, and there were no witnesses called by his court appointed attorney. No plea deal was offered, which is routine in such cases, and all appeals since he was locked up have been denied.
Meanwhile a certain privileged man who is accused of 78 felonies (so far) is able to hire some of the best lawyers in the country, spend millions of dollars on his defense (much of it donated to his political campaign), and if convicted, will most likely get off with a slap on his wrist and serve no jail time.
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