Prosecutor Suddenly Wonders If Pennsylvania Gun Owner Deserves Prison for Driving Into New Jersey With a Pistol in Her Purse

The Press of Atlantic
City reports
that Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain, who until now has
seemed determined to
put Shaneen Allen behind bars for mistakenly thinking that her
Pennsylvania carry permit allowed her to cross the border into New
Jersey with a pistol in her purse, is having second thoughts. “I am
presently in the process of reviewing our office’s position on the
appropriate resolution of this matter,” McClain wrote in a recent
letter to Superior Court Judge Michael Donio, who is overseeing
Allen’s case. Her trial, which was supposed to begin on October 6,
has been rescheduled for two weeks later.

McClain has refused to approve Allen for a pretrial diversion
program, even though all the evidence indicates that she
broke the law by mistake. In particular, she would not be
facing a mandatory minimum sentence of three and a half years had
she not told the state trooper who pulled her over on the Atlantic
City Expressway last October for a minor traffic infraction that
she had a gun in her bag. McClain’s possible change of heart
probably has less to do with his nagging conscience than with the

criticism his position has generated from people around the
country who were appalled by his insistence that Allen, a single
mother of two with no criminal record, belongs in prison.

The Press notes that both McClain’s predecessor
and prosecutors in other counties have treated offenders in Allen’s
position much more leniently. Judge Donio also has shown mercy
toward gun owners from other states who innocently run afoul of New
Jersey’s draconian gun laws:

Justin Brey, 26, had his gun on him at work in Pennsylvania —
where he has a concealed carry permit — when his friend picked him
up to take him to his surprise bachelor party destination in April
2013.

He didn’t realize he would be crossing state lines, and when
they got to Caesars Atlantic City, he put his gun in a drawer of
the hotel — then left for home without it. By the time he returned
for it, a maid had found it and police were called. Despite a plea
deal calling for a three-year sentence with one year without
parole, Donio gave Brey two years’ probation….

“If you don’t trust the judge enough to make the correct
decisions, then don’t appoint them to the bench,” Donio said at
Brey’s sentencing. “These mandatory laws tie our hands, and in
tying our hands, sometimes justice doesn’t get served.”

Even New Jersey legislators are having second thoughts about the
sentences they mandated. The Press reports that bill
introduced in both houses of the legislature would “allow for cases
such as Allen’s and to give judges more discretion in
sentencing.”