Pubdate: Sun, 10 Aug 2003
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2003 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact:  http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Bill Rankin

JUDGE: SHORTEN FEDERAL SENTENCES

Supreme Court Justice Wants Guidelines Revised

San Francisco --- Saying federal prison terms are too long, U.S. Supreme 
Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on Saturday called for an end to mandatory 
minimum sentences.

"I can accept neither the necessity nor the wisdom of federal mandatory 
minimum sentences," Kennedy said in prepared remarks for a speech at a 
lawyers' convention. "In too many cases, mandatory minimum sentences are 
unwise and unjust."

He also called for a revision of federal sentencing guidelines, which 
judges frequently follow in cases when there is no mandatory sentence length.

"Our resources are misspent, our punishments too severe, our sentences too 
long," Kennedy said. "The federal sentencing guidelines should be revised 
downward."

Kennedy, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, gave his unusually 
pointed remarks before the American Bar Association's annual meeting here.

The justice said he has supported the sentencing guidelines, which are 
required to be considered by federal judges in courtrooms nationwide.

The guidelines have served their purpose of eliminating widely disparate 
sentences handed down to criminals in similar situations but also are 
partly responsible for a general lengthening of prison terms, Kennedy said, 
noting this increase comes at a time when it costs more per year to house 
an inmate than it does to educate a child.

Kennedy's remarks came only days after a disclosure that the U.S. Justice 
Department will begin compiling records of federal judges who give lighter 
sentences than those called for under the guidelines.

As for the mandatory minimums, Kennedy said although they have been upheld 
as constitutional by the courts, that does not mean they are justified.

"Few misconceptions about government are more mischievous than the idea 
that a policy is sound simply because a court finds it permissible," 
Kennedy said. "A court decision does not excuse the political branches or 
the public from the responsibility for unjust laws."

Kennedy cited the case of a young man found to have just over 5 grams of 
crack cocaine after being stopped by U.S. park police on a federal parkway 
near Washington.

The defendant was indicted in federal court and faces a mandatory minimum 
sentence of five years in prison.

"If he had taken an exit and left the federal land, his sentence likely 
would have been measured in months, not years," Kennedy said.

As it stands now, Kennedy said, federal mandatory minimum sentences can be 
mitigated only if prosecutors decide not to charge certain counts in an 
indictment.

"In my view, a transfer of sentencing discretion from a judge to an 
assistant U.S. attorney, often not much older than the defendant, is 
misguided," Kennedy said.

"The trial judge is the one actor in the system most experienced with 
exercising discretion in a transparent, open and reasoned way. Most of the 
sentencing discretion should be with the judge, not the prosecutors."

Kennedy urged the 410,000-member legal group to lobby Congress to change 
the sentencing guidelines.

Kennedy also called for more pardons at both the state and federal levels 
to lessen harsh sentences.

"The pardon process, of late, seems to have been drained of its moral 
force," Kennedy said. "A people confident in its laws and institutions 
should not be ashamed of mercy."

Atlanta criminal defense lawyer Don Samuel applauded Kennedy's remarks.

"The whole theory behind the mandatory minimums is that no one trusts the 
judges," he said.

"But the idea of a congressman thousands of miles away in Washington 
knowing the appropriate sentence for someone, as opposed to a judge right 
there in the courtroom who knows all the details of the defendant, is just 
ludicrous."
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