The Andersons: First the system doesn’t work, then, miraculously, it does.
This bizarre tale will be adapted into a movie, or Hollywood has lost its mind.
Missourian Mike Anderson was only 23 in 2000 when he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for committing a hold-up at gun-point. He was out on bail, waiting to be ordered to report to prison, and the order never came. He called his lawyer, who said, “Wait for it. Be prepared.” Anderson even inquired within the system regarding what he was supposed to do, but he got no definitive answer. The order never came, because the official paperwork said he was already in jail.
So Anderson kept waiting, and remained prepared to be arrested and taken to jail at any minute. He didn’t leave the jurisdiction (Mississippi County—and why Missouri has a county with that name is a mystery in itself: no wonder its systems are messed up), and he took no steps to disguise his identity. Anderson started a successful business in construction, married and had children. He coached youth football and volunteered at his church in Webster Groves, Missouri. Then, right about when he would have been released from prison if officials had done their jobs competently, the paperwork error was discovered, and Mike was finally put in jail to serve his original sentence.
This was legal, but ethically wrong. The Mike Anderson who was originally sentenced had no family, and was young enough to pick up his life at the relatively youthful age of 36 after serving his time. He was also a gun-wielding criminal in 200, a threat to the community, and in need of correction. This Mike Anderson was a completely different man. The sentence that was reasonable in 2000 was now unreasonable, and fell hard on a family that didn’t exist in 2000. This Mike Anderson was a productive, law-abiding member of society whose absence would harm the community, not protect it, and a victim of outrageous government incompetence.
Amazingly (and luckily), a judge agreed. After a hearing nine months into Anderson’s new prison term, Judge Brown released him. “You’ve been a good father,” Brown said. “You’ve been a good husband. You’ve been a good taxpaying citizen of the state of Missouri.”
And, she might have added, the actual sentence you served was the equivalent of a thirteen year probation, you served it, and you passed with flying colors. It couldn’t have been easy knowing for thirteen years that at any minute he could be yanked out of his home and life and thrown in jail. Yet he didn’t hide, and didn’t run. (Ethics note: Anderson told CNN this morning that he never informed his wife that he was living on borrowed time, or that he had been convicted of a felony. I understand, but that was not ethical or fair. She had a right to know. She had a right to know before she married him, in fact.)
CNN’s legal analysis was incompetent and inappropriately political, as usual, with agreement all around that this judge, unlike the typical Cro-Magnons on the bench, “understands the value of rehabilitation over retribution.” Utter garbage: there is no indication that Judge Brown wouldn’t have levied the same sentence, or even a harsher one, against the young, rehabilitated Mile Anderson. Judge Brown simply proved that she has a brain; that the original sentence made no sense anymore, and was clearly unjust, and that Anderson and his family shouldn’t be penalized because the County clerks are inept. Anderson, indeed, did the County a favor. If he had run amuck and gone on a crime spree after the stooges running the penal system neglected to jail him, it would have been a serious scandal, with law suits galore and heads rolling. Now, it’s just a heartwarming and inspiring story.
And a movie, I bet. I’m guessing LMN.
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Sources: NPR, Huffington Post
Graphic: Huffington Post
Ethics Alarms 
Long time, first time…
Just a thought, a legitimate question, what if the error was discovered halfway through the original sentence? Should he have been forced to finish off the remaining years?
This story is so heartwarming, in part, because the error was recognized after the length of the original sentence. Methinks this would have been a bit more contentious if, everything else being equal, only 5 years had elapsed. And Im not sure how I feel about that.
Long time, first time…
Just a thought, a legitimate question, what if the error was discovered halfway through the original sentence? Should he have been forced to finish off the remaining years?
This story is so heartwarming, in part, because the error was recognized after the length of the original sentence. Methinks this would have been a bit more contentious if, everything else being equal, only 5 years had elapsed. And Im not sure how I feel about that.
Great point, and clearly true. At what point would the magic line be crossed where finishing the sentence was unjust and pointless? Clearly not 1, 2, 3…even five years. Half? Or would the benchmarks like the business and family be the key factors? This one seemed almost scripted; if the facts weren’t so ideal, it would, as you say, be a tougher ethics call.
Why? Did an abused wife shoot her husband and go to live a full an happy life as a single mother?
By the time they get through with the script, YES…
Except the problem with Hollywood, is the script will be redone where the protagonist, Mr. Anderson will go on a righteous rampage destroying the system in the name of good.
Oh and the antagonist will look alot like whoever the Republicans run in 2016.
I’m just glad that this man took the God-granted chance he was given and turned his life around. He wouldn’t be the first youthful first-time criminal who successfully capitalized on such an opportunity. We’ve all seen too many recent horror stories of hardened criminals getting off with a slap on the wrist. Anderson’s story is one of these rare ones where mercy from the bench was appropriate.
Mississippi County—and why Missouri has a county with that name is a mystery in itself
Not really, when you consider that some river by the same name passes near that state. I do not know where that county is, but I know where the state is.
-Jut
Oh, I understand what the theory was. I just don’t understand why someone didn’t say, “Wait you idiot, that will be confusing as hell!” A million things to name your counties, and you have to pick a name that is the same as another state? I know there are a few of these around..shows a terrible lack of imagination.
Yeah, my state has a Washington County and Washington died long before Washington became a state or my county became one. The real issue is why there is a Kansas City in Missouri, as well as in Kansas
-Jut
Washington is the anomaly…there’s one in almost every state, plus two US jurisdictions.
It always bothered me that Reggie Cleveland never pitched for the Indians…
Or that anything out of Boston could be called the Braves!
To be fair there was this to-do about tea once… and also something about the holding fire until seeing the whites of their eyes.
But after that? I donno.
It was just a snide dig at Jack, Tex!