Sentencing.

• Author: Newman, Mark J.
• Position: Letters - Letter to the editor

I enjoyed reading "Unhandcuffing Justice: Proposals to Return Rationality to Criminal Sentencing" (February) by Aaron M. Clements and Judge Hale R. Stancil. I was reminded of the political pressure to bring about mandatory sentencing back in the 1980s when it became clear in the early days of fighting drugs that those strongly in favor of long sentences found fault with the then sentencing system since folks were serving, on many occasions, far less than the time they were sentenced to by courts. With the exacerbation over the proliferation of drugs and related crimes, it seemed only natural to blame the "lack of punishment" on "light" sentences. The political solution was to take away the sentencing judge's authority, previously exercised on a case-by-case basis, and essentially codify what the sentences would be. For those judges who felt it appropriate, the system permitted an enhancement of sentence and surely no...