About jury duty and disparity in sentencing

Judge Mullen was the Maine judge who gave Eric Tankerley a lenient sentence. I googled his name. Here's a story at the Press Herald regarding his frustration with jurors not showing up for jury duty, or calling in or writing to explain why.  

My son, Shane, was chosen for jury duty; however he couldn't show up because he's in prison! In Maine, prisoners can vote...so should they be allowed to be jurors? If you're supposed to be judged by a jury of your peers, and you've been incarcerated for so long that fellow inmates are your peers, doesn't that qualify them to be on the jury?

While I was reading about Mullen, I saw a story from yesterday. Compare the Sangerville woman's 3 year sentence to Eric Tankerley's 30 day one...which I blogged about earlier today. The disparity in sentencing is another problem in our justice system, which doesn't often get much attention.