Pubdate: Sun, 19 Feb 2006
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2006 The Sacramento Bee
Contact:  http://www.sacbee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376
Note: Does not publish letters from outside its circulation area.
Author: Gene C. Sproul

DRUGS AND PRISON CROWDING

Re "Taking on a crisis," editorial, Feb. 12: Modifying California's 
"three strikes" law is hardly the "best" way to address our prison 
overcrowding.

With more than half of the inmates incarcerated because of "drug" 
crimes (many of which carry mandatory, often ridiculous, sentences), 
rather than release criminals who have demonstrated their inability 
to obey the law by committing at least three distinct crimes, surely 
it would be better to overhaul the sentencing laws so as to permit 
release (on parole, of course) of relatively harmless druggies and 
other non-violent prisoners.

It's time we start punishing criminal conduct rather than the results 
of that conduct, and tailoring the punishment to fit the criminal 
rather than the crime.

Sentencing a hardened criminal to 90 days for leading a high-speed 
chase resulting in no "casualties" (assuming that to be the maximum 
allowable sentence) makes no sense, when we give a non-criminal type 
who leads exactly the same kind of chase a life sentence if someone 
is killed. In both cases, the results of the chase are strictly fortuitous.

- - Gene C. Sproul

Orangevale
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman