Pubdate: Thu, 10 Apr 2003
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2003 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact:  http://www.boston.com/globe/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Anne Gearan, Associated Press

HIGH COURT JUSTICE SAYS TOO MANY IN US PRISONS

WASHINGTON - Too many people are behind bars in America, and prison
terms are often too long, Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
told Congress yesterday.

As of June 30, 2002, there were 2.1 million inmates in prisons or
jails, an increase of 2.8 percent from the year before.

''Two million people in prison is just unacceptable,'' Kennedy said
during a hearing on the Supreme Court's budget.

Justice Clarence Thomas nodded in apparent agreement as Kennedy
criticized the proliferation of ''mandatory minimum'' sentences, which
can mean long prison terms for relatively minor or nonviolent crimes.
Thomas did not speak at the hearing.

''In many cases, our sentences are too long,'' Kennedy
said.

The comments were made after Kennedy and Thomas had asked the House
Appropriations Committee for $73.4 million for salaries, upkeep, and
court expenses for the 12 months that begin in October.

Kennedy is a moderate conservative named to the high court by
President Reagan in 1988. He voted last month to uphold sentences of
up to life in prison for three-time convicts in California.

None of the congressmen yesterday asked about that ruling, in which
Thomas also upheld long prison terms.

''Mandatory minimums are harsh and in many cases unjust,'' Kennedy
said.

He offered a hypothetical example of an 18-year-old who gets caught
growing marijuana in the woods. If the person happens to have a
hunting rifle in their truck when arrested, the teenager could face a
mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, Kennedy said.

''Now, he shouldn't be doing that,'' Kennedy said, ''[but] an
18-year-old doesn't know how long 15 years is.''

Kennedy's language was unusually strong, said Marc Mauer of the
Sentencing Project, a nonprofit group that advocates alternatives to
long prison terms.

Nonetheless, the remarks probably do not represent any lessened
commitment to a law-and-order approach to serious crime, Mauer said.
Kennedy was probably reflecting frustration common among federal
judges who feel that mandatory minimum sentences are too inflexible,
Mauer said.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has underscored that mandatory
sentencing laws can unduly tie a judge's hands. He once called such
laws ''a good example of the law of unintended consequences.''

''Even though they represent what is usually thought of as the
conservative wing of the court, when it comes to the appropriate role
of the judiciary there is much less distinction between liberal and
conservative judges,'' Mauer said.

States and the federal government passed many laws setting mandatory
minimum sentences for drug crimes in the mid-to late-1980s. The laws
reflected concern over the growth of drug crime and the spread of
crack cocaine. Other mandatory minimum sentencing laws, like the
''three strikes'' laws in California and other states, were meant to
keep career criminals behind bars.

Earlier in yesterday's session, Kennedy said the Supreme Court is not
likely to make a habit of releasing audiotapes of its oral argument
sessions on the same day a case is heard, as the court did April 1 in
a marquee case about affirmative action.

Kennedy also said the court's current workload is too light. The court
has heard about 80 cases a year in recent terms, far fewer than a
decade or more ago.

That could change soon, especially as a large number of cases
''related to terrorism'' make their way through the courts, Kennedy
said. He did not elaborate.
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