Pubdate: Sun, 04 Jan 2009 Source: Des Moines Register (IA) Copyright: 2009 The Des Moines Register. Contact: http://DesMoinesRegister.com/help/letter.html Website: http://desmoinesregister.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing) RETHINK LONG, MANDATORY DRUG SENTENCES To those who know Reed Prior, he seemed the last person who would be sentenced to life in federal prison. To those who know George W. Bush's reputation, he seemed the last president who would set Prior free in an act of mercy. Yet, both happened, and the irony reveals injustice not just in one case but in criminal sentencing in general. Prior, 59, was granted a rare commutation by President Bush two days before Christmas, which means Prior will soon leave a federal prison in Greenville, Ill., a free man. Without that presidential act, Prior would have spent the remainder of his life in prison. Many people - including a who's who list in Iowa business and political circles - urged the president to act. They were moved not only by Prior's otherwise exemplary life but also by what seemed to them an unjustly excessive penalty for the crime of selling illegal drugs. State and federal prisons house 1.6 million inmates, many of them for drug-related crimes (more than half of federal prisoners and a fifth of state prisoners, according to recent statistics). For most Americans, these figures are an abstraction. But for those who have a relative or a friend among these numbers, the system is a tragedy. What these people need most is help in changing their lives. At great taxpayer cost, the criminal-justice system often does just the opposite: A felony conviction and prison time are a life sentence to the economic underclass. The U.S. government tried the treatment approach for a while - curiously enough during the Nixon administration - yet Congress and subsequent presidents from both parties have foolishly returned with a vengeance to using criminal laws and long prison sentences as the primary weapon in the war on drugs. This strategy has harmed thousands of individuals, their families and their communities. One of the biggest missteps has been growth of "mandatory minimum" sentences. This one-size-fits-all justice has led to long imprisonment for people like Prior. Though many are outraged at the idea that Prior was put away for life on a drug conviction, along with more than 2,000 other federal inmates like him, thousands of others in the federal system are serving the practical equivalent of life sentences. If they get out at all, it will be at the twilight of their lives, with few if any resources, the most productive years of their lives past. They likely will be wards of the state and candidates for more drug abuse or crime. In these cases, the criminal-justice system not only missed opportunities to salvage lives, but discarded them. A remarkable group of Iowans from across the business, political and social spectrum saw how such an opportunity was badly missed in Prior's case, and they got George W. Bush to agree. It's time for members of Congress and state lawmakers to end the harm caused by wrongheaded drug prosecutions and mandatory prison sentences and ensure opportunities to salvage lives are not missed in the future. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin