.WAF L ( l N @ vÝUHýcc ¹šŠ{v &ž ntry (#4Ô ëe6CàBÈI#zWJÝUHýcc ¹šŠ{v &ž N •url ohttp://class.timesfreepress.com/ShowStoryTemplate.asp?Path=ChatTFPress/2004/09/07&ID=Ar00701&Section=PrintText mime
text/html hvrs data
Local prosecutors oppose ending required minimum sentences
Mattice, Cox say bar association’s proposal rolls back reforms
By Brian Lazenby Staff Writer
Area prosecutors are taking aim at an American Bar Association report recommending drastic changes to the criminal justice system.
The report, released in August by the bar association’s Kennedy Commission, recommends an end to mandatory minimum sentences and "overreliance on incarceration."
Harry S. "Sandy" Mattice, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, said some of the recommendations would be counterproductive.
"To a large extent the recommendations of the Kennedy Commission are an effort to roll back 20 years of sentencing reform," he said.
However, Stephen Saltzburg, a law professor at George Washington University and chairman of the Kennedy Commission, said the commission is not advocating a soft approach to violent crime.
"I think there is general agreement that violent crime should be punished with long prison time," he said. "But you don’t need mandatory minimums to do it."
Mr. Mattice said mandatory minimums are responsible for reducing violent crime.
"I think history has shown us they work," he said. "Mandatory minimums came in the Sentence Reform Act of the early 1980s. Since then we have seen drops in crime, and we are enjoying today a 30-year low in the violent crime rate."
According to figures provided by Mr. Mattice, violent crime in Chattanooga dropped more than 18 percent during 2003. But Marc Mauer, assistant director of the Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C.-based sentencing reform advocacy group, disagreed with Mr. Mattice’s interpretation of mandatory minimums.
"There is nothing to that at all," he said. "There is no significant research that shows mandatory minimums reduce crime." Mr. Mauer said drug treatment and preventative programs are the best ways to reduce crime.
"Merely increasing sentences from five years to 10 has no significant effect on the crime rate," he said. "We need to look both in and outside the prison system for an effective treatment."
Hamilton County District Attorney Bill Cox said Tennessee sentencing laws already mirror many of the Kennedy Commission’s recommendations.
"The state Legislature, through the Tennessee Sentencing Act of 1989, long ago adopted the current recommendations of the Kennedy Commission to eliminate disparity in sentencing of like offenders for like offenses," he said. "Tennessee’s use of mandatory sentences in statutory offenses is limited to DUI, certain DUI-related driving offenses, prostitution near schools and sex offender registration violations."
Mr. Cox criticized the commission’s recommendations that convicted criminals with "extraordinary and compelling rea- sons" may have their sentences reduced.
"Sentences imposed by juries and judges, after a finding of guilt, should be served," he said. "Punishment, in order to be an effective deterrent, must be certain."
The commission’s report states that reasons for shortening a sentence include, but are not limited to, old age, disability, heroic acts and extraordinary suffering.
Mr. Saltzburg defended the report, claiming that commission studies showed that too many people are in prison for too long for minor offenses.
Long prison terms for minor drug offenses are a waste of money and do not address the underlying drug addiction problem.
Mr. Cox said some of the commission’s recommendations, such a drug treatment and striving to eliminate racial bias, are worthy of consideration. But he disagreed with the report’s assertion that too many people are in prison because of a flawed criminal justice system.
"It is not difficult to avoid incarceration," he said. "Don’t use or sell illegal substances, don’t hurt other people and don’t take what doesn’t belong to you. Most everyone in our country is able to follow these simple rules. Those who choose not to must face the consequences."
E-mail Brian Lazenby at blazenby@timesfreepress.com ON THE WEB For more information about the Kennedy Commission’s recommendations, visit the American Bar Association’s Web site at www.abanews.org. This story was published Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Copyright © 2004, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.
This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2004, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing. All rights reserved.
post ÝUHýXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXcate #4Ô ÝUHý L½c_ª½ˆIª N 9 cat @#4Ô ÝUHý L½c_ª½ˆIª N 9 ÿÿþ aux vSURL nhttp://class.timesfreepress.com/ShowStoryTemplate.asp?Path=ChatTFPress/2004/09/07&ID=Ar00701&Section=PrintText