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OJ Simpson: Let Him Be

Update: He'll live in Las Vegas for the "forseeable future," says the Nevada Dept. of Corrections.

O.J. Simpson has been released from prison on parole. He served 9 years before being granted parole. He received no special treatment while in prison or while being considered for parole. My view: Let him be. He's done his time for the robbery and related crimes for which he was convicted and sentenced. He's earned his freedom.

It's not clear where he will be living. It seems like it will be California or Florida, but for now he's in Nevada.

Tom Scotto, a close Simpson friend who lives in Naples, Florida, said by text message he was with Simpson following his release. Scotto did not respond to questions about where they were going or whether Simpson’s sister, Shirley Baker of Sacramento, California, or his daughter, Arnelle Simpson of Fresno, California, were with him.

Here are his parole conditions.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Trump devotee who has been tweeting about her recent visits to the Oval Office doesn't want him in Florida. What grounds are there to refuse Nevada's request for the transfer? None, as far as I can tell. [More...]

As a member of the Interstate Compact and it seems to me, Florida has no discretion to refuse the transfer, since he's a resident of Florida.

Here is her press release and her letter to the Florida Department of Corrections, requesting they either deny the request from Nevada to allow OJ to serve his parole in Florida, or impose ultra-strict conditions on him if the request is granted.

O.J.'s children live in Florida. He lived in Florida for years. As this Dept. of Corrections spokeswoman says:

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Michelle Glady said:

“We are aware of his potential relocation to Florida. Pursuant to the Interstate Commission on Adult Offender Supervision, if Nevada’s request meets all criteria, Florida must accept the transfer.

Glady said that, under the compact signed by all 50 states, a receiving state has 45 days to determine whether to accept a parolee from another state. ....If the transfer is submitted in accordance with the mandatory acceptance criteria (such as the offender being a resident of the receiving state or the offender’s family is residing in the receiving state), the individual supervision plan is automatically considered valid under the Interstate Compact and the receiving state must accept the individual for supervision.”

Bondi's claim about keeping Floridians safe from OJ, rings hollow. In August, 2017 there were more than 5,000 parolees in Florida -- 2/3 of whom had convictions for murder, robbery, kidnapping, burglary, weapons offenses, sex offenses and other violent crimes. (See Table 16, right hand column.) More than 50%
of them had served prior felony sentences (See Table 18.)

According to the Florida Department of Corrections,

As of July 2017, 3,824 other state offenders were being supervised in the State of Florida and 3,041 Florida offenders were being supervised out of state.

On Trump and Bondi: Trump donated $25,000. to her PAC charitable foundation within weeks of her decision that Florida would not join other states suing Trump Univ. An investigation cleared Bondi of wrong-doing in accepting the money. But the IRS made Trump pay a penalty for his foundation's illegal campaign contribution to her PAC. Trump's foundation, as a 501 ©(3) tax-exempt organization, was prohibited from making donations to political candidates.

Trump held a fund-raiser for Bondi at his resort in Palm Beach. Bondi was expected to get a plum job in Trump's administration in January, but didn't. Three weeks ago Trump added her to his commission on drug abuse headed by Chris Christie on which his son in law Jared Kushner also serves. But the timing is odd: The final report of the commission was due by Oct. 1 (today.) Why add her at the last minute? (It's not even clear that her addition, which requires an executive order, has been signed yet.)

An extension will probably be requested. Did Jared have so much on his plate with bringing peace to the Middle East that he couldn't do his duties on the drug commission? As Attorney General of Florida, doesn't Bondi have more important things to occupy her time than where OJ, who was never prosecuted in her state, lives while on parole?

Good luck, O.J. You will need it as the media and the Goldman family will forever be at your back.

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  • Display: Sort:
    I don't want Pam Bondi in my state (5.00 / 2) (#1)
    by McBain on Sun Oct 01, 2017 at 08:00:26 PM EST


    Simpson Owes As Much As $58M (none / 0) (#2)
    by RickyJim on Fri Oct 06, 2017 at 12:00:20 PM EST
    While pensions and retirement income are off the table, David Cook, a lawyer for the Goldman family, said that he will make every effort possible to force Simpson to hand over whatever other income he earns that's not protected by law. Cook thinks that in today's world it would be easy for Simpson to make money in fields like social media or reality TV, or otherwise figuring out a way to turn his celebrity into cash.
    Link