Jail Time

Given Martha Stewart's celebrity status, deep pockets and fancy lifestyle, paralegal Buffy Pyle was all but certain the home-decorating entrepreneur would never net jail time for lying about a stock sale. "I thought she wouldn't get jail time because she was probably spending so much money on her defense," Pyle said as she walked in downtown Baltimore yesterday. But Pyle, 32, and others who couldn't foresee Stewart ever having to trade her posh living quarters for a jail bunk after the scandal broke 19 months ago were surprised at yesterday's turn of events.

Motorists would be banned from carrying open beer cans, wine bottles or other unsealed containers of alcohol in cars under legislation given final General Assembly approval yesterday and sent to the governor for his promised signature. Anti-drunken-driving advocates who pushed for an open-container law applauded the 46-0 Senate vote, even as they acknowledged that the version of the bill passed was weaker than they would have liked. The legislation would create a civil penalty for carrying an open alcoholic beverage in the driver or passenger area of a vehicle, punishable by a $25 fine.

CHICAGO - It was easy for one midlevel manager to conceal two prior driving-under-the-influence convictions from his boss because he didn't do jail time and drove to work every day. But a third charge of driving under the influence, an automatic felony in Illinois, led to suspension of his driver's license and could mean jail this time - and subsequent job loss. "His employer doesn't know about it and he doesn't have a duty to disclose it. But if he serves significant jail time, it'll come out," Chicago attorney Terrence LeFevour said about a client.

Have you ever just messed up? I'm not talking about leaving your coffee on the roof of your car. I mean a major, life-altering mistake. Think fiscal cliff-level personal disaster. Now imagine paying for the mistake with jail time - then continuing to pay for the rest of your life by being shut out of every new opportunity to reestablish yourself. That's the life of Marylanders with prior misdemeanor convictions right now, and the General Assembly appears to want them to keep living their nightmares, while taxpayers foot the bill.

An article that appeared Sunday misstated the employer of Donovan Kisamore, a participant in a work-release program. He works for Rockingham Construction Co.The Sun regrets the error.For Donovan Kisamore and hundreds of other Marylanders convicted of minor crimes, home is not only where the heart is, but where the monitor, ankle strap and jail sentence are, too.Private companies have joined government agencies in watching over petty offenders who are ordered to serve home detention instead of jail time -- offenders such as Kisamore, who is serving time at his Middle River home for a battery conviction.

A Westminster father of five who owes more than $17,000 in child support has been sentenced to nine years in state prison by Carroll Circuit Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr.Stephen Douglas Rill, 36, of George Street, became the third man in recent months to be given jail time by Carroll judges for failure to make child-support payments.Convicted by Judge Beck on three counts of criminal non-support, Rill was given the maximum prison sentence. Judge Beck suspended all but three years of the consecutive sentences.

I couldn't agree more with the title of Dan Rodricks ' column ("A judge long overdue for retirement," July 3). Judge Thomas J. Bollinger has made ugly waves for years with various decisions, several quoted by Mr. Rodricks, that show his disrespect, unconcern and disdain for women. Why is this man still on the bench when he is past the mandatory retirement age of 70? Doesn't this counteract the law he purportedly supports? Can't someone get him away from us so we won't hear any more disgusting judgments like giving a bishop (a bishop!

Isn't the purpose of prison to punish offenders and serve as a deterrent to others ("Police get no break in prison," Aug. 20)? And don't police know the law of the land? Serving time in jail is not mandatory, it is the result of the choices people make. If one makes a bad choice then the result is jail time. Why should police officers be given preferential treatment? There is a saying every police officer should know: "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime. " The choice is theirs to make.

A former Anne Arundel County physical education teacher pleaded guilty Monday to child pornography charges but will not serve any jail time. Gregory Christy, 39, who most recently taught at Rippling Woods Elementary School in Glen Burnie, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child pornography. Under the plea agreement, he must forfeit his teaching license and register as a sex offender for 15 years. Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Paul A. Hackner also placed Christy on five years' probation and suspended an 18-month jail sentence.

ISSUE: The U.S. Naval Academy is pursuing a new tack in its crackdown on sexual harassment and assault: prosecuting cases with a rarely used form of court-martial that might make it easier to win convictions but doesn't mete out jail time to offenders. The implications are important for the Annapolis military college, which has struggled to reform a culture that a Pentagon task force has deemed "hostile" to women. Since 2001, one midshipman out of 37 accused of sexual assault has been convicted.