egs
08-10-2003, 08:29 AM
I'm not quite sure what forum this should go into but thought it was important to share w/PTO members. Kennedy packed some powerful words yesterday!!! Now, they need to be heard, shared and enacted upon!!!
egs
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Justice says prison terms are too long
By Anne Gearan, Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said yesterday that prison terms were too long and that he favored scrapping the practice of setting mandatory minimum sentences for some federal crimes.
"Our resources are misspent, our punishments too severe, our sentences too long," Kennedy said in remarks prepared for delivery to the annual meeting of the American Bar Association.
"I can accept neither the necessity nor the wisdom of federal mandatory minimum sentences," Kennedy said. "In too many cases, mandatory minimum sentences are unwise or unjust."
Kennedy is a moderate conservative placed on the court by former President Ronald Reagan. His criticism puts him at odds with Attorney General John Ashcroft, who wants prosecutors to closely monitor judges who impose more lenient sentences than federal guidelines recommend. Such oversight, critics say, could limit judicial independence.
Kennedy said he agreed with the need for federal sentencing guidelines. The 15-year-old system gives judges a range of possible punishments for most crimes and eliminates some of the disparities in terms imposed by different judges for the same crime.
Still, the guidelines lead to longer prison terms than were common before, Kennedy said.
Prosecutors often ask for sentences at or near the top of the guideline range, and defense lawyers ask for terms at or even below the bottom. Judges have some freedom to "downwardly depart" from the guidelines and set a lesser punishment.
Ashcroft recently directed U.S. attorneys to promptly report to Justice Department headquarters any such departures that are not part of a plea agreement in exchange for cooperation.
"The Department of Justice has a solemn obligation to ensure that laws concerning criminal sentencing are faithfully, fairly and consistently enforced," Ashcroft wrote in a memo issued July 28.
Kennedy did not address Ashcroft's directive.
The justice asked the bar association to lobby Congress to repeal mandatory minimum sentence laws, even though they have withstood court scrutiny.
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egs
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Justice says prison terms are too long
By Anne Gearan, Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said yesterday that prison terms were too long and that he favored scrapping the practice of setting mandatory minimum sentences for some federal crimes.
"Our resources are misspent, our punishments too severe, our sentences too long," Kennedy said in remarks prepared for delivery to the annual meeting of the American Bar Association.
"I can accept neither the necessity nor the wisdom of federal mandatory minimum sentences," Kennedy said. "In too many cases, mandatory minimum sentences are unwise or unjust."
Kennedy is a moderate conservative placed on the court by former President Ronald Reagan. His criticism puts him at odds with Attorney General John Ashcroft, who wants prosecutors to closely monitor judges who impose more lenient sentences than federal guidelines recommend. Such oversight, critics say, could limit judicial independence.
Kennedy said he agreed with the need for federal sentencing guidelines. The 15-year-old system gives judges a range of possible punishments for most crimes and eliminates some of the disparities in terms imposed by different judges for the same crime.
Still, the guidelines lead to longer prison terms than were common before, Kennedy said.
Prosecutors often ask for sentences at or near the top of the guideline range, and defense lawyers ask for terms at or even below the bottom. Judges have some freedom to "downwardly depart" from the guidelines and set a lesser punishment.
Ashcroft recently directed U.S. attorneys to promptly report to Justice Department headquarters any such departures that are not part of a plea agreement in exchange for cooperation.
"The Department of Justice has a solemn obligation to ensure that laws concerning criminal sentencing are faithfully, fairly and consistently enforced," Ashcroft wrote in a memo issued July 28.
Kennedy did not address Ashcroft's directive.
The justice asked the bar association to lobby Congress to repeal mandatory minimum sentence laws, even though they have withstood court scrutiny.
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