Last week Patricia Spottedcrow, an Oklahoma woman
who received a 12-year prison sentence in 2010 for two penny-ante
marijuana sales that yielded $31, was released
from prison and reunited with her four children. The cruel, twisted
logic of the war on drugs dictated that Spottedcrow, who was
charged with possession of a dangerous substance in the presence of
a minor, be punished extra severely for supposedly endangering
her children, even if it meant hurting those children by separating
them from their mother. The sentence was all the more appalling
because a government informant initiated the “crimes” with which
Spottedcrow was charged and because her mother and brother,
who were charged in connection with the same transactions, received
a suspended sentence and probation, respectively.

After the Tulsa World ran a profile of Spottedcrow
last year, the case received wide attention (including a post
here by Mike Riggs). Last January a new judge shortened her
sentence by four years, and in April the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole
Board recommended her early release, which Gov. Mary Fallin
approved after requiring Spottedcrow to serve three months in a
work-release program. 

[Thanks to Richard Cowan for the tip.]