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Newsbrief:
Mandatory
Minimum
Sentences
Unfair,
Says
Supreme
Court
Justice
9/26/03
Even as Attorney General
John Ashcroft moved once again to quash any tendencies toward leniency
in federal sentencing, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Sunday became
the second justice in recent weeks to attack overly rigid federal criminal
sentences. In a speech at the John F Kennedy Library and Museum in
Boston, Breyer called mandatory minimum sentences "unfair" and "not helpful."
He joins Justice Anthony Kennedy in attacking mandatory minimums; Kennedy
told the American Bar Association annual convention last month that such
sentences were "unjust."
Calling mandatory minimum
sentences a "monkey wrench" thrown into the gears of justice, Breyer called
for greater flexibility for judges. "There has to be oil in the gears...
There has to be room for the unusual or the exceptional case," he said.
Breyer blamed Congress, which he said passed too many mandatory minimum
laws where "there is no room for flexibility on the downside. "That
is not a helpful thing to do," he said. "It's not going to advance
the cause of law enforcement in my opinion and it's going to set back the
cause of fairness in sentencing."
Breyer told the audience
of more than 500 people than he and Kennedy were not alone among justices
unhappy with mandatory minimums. Chief Justice William Rehnquist
and "others on the court" shared his views, he said. Nor is unhappiness
with harsh sentences limited to Supreme Court justices. A series
of moves by Attorney General Ashcroft to crack down on light sentences
is threatening to turn a festering judicial resentment over loss of sentencing
discretion into a full-fledged rebellion of the black-robes.
-- END --
|
Issue #304, 9/26/03
Editorial:
Patients vs. Prosecutors |
Pain Doctor Arrests
Provoke Backlash -- Group Urges FDA to Stop Cooperating With Justice Department |
Cheryl Miller
Memorial Project Does DC |
Hawaii Meth Mania:
Drug Summit, Media Push Target "Ice" |
Playing It Smart:
Sensible Seattle and the Winning of I-75 |
Newsbrief:
Dr. Hurwitz Indicted, Jailed in Campaign Against Pain Doctors |
Newsbrief:
MAPS-Sponsored Ecstasy Research Wins Final FDA Approval |
Newsbrief:
Rio de Janeiro Jails Stuffed With Drug Offenders |
Newsbrief:
UN Warns Stimulants "Public Enemy Number One," Cites Flawed Science, Attacks
"Liberalization" |
Newsbrief:
This Week's Corrupt Cops Story |
Newsbrief:
Cannabis Tolerance Showing Up in India |
Newsbrief:
Canadian Government to Appeal BC Marijuana Legalization Ruling |
Newsbrief:
Drug War Sparking Death Squad Killings Again in Philippines |
Newsbrief:
Ashcroft Says No Plea Bargains in Latest Bid to Send America to Prison
Forever |
Newsbrief:
Mandatory Minimum Sentences Unfair, Says Supreme Court Justice |
This Week
in History |
Current Action
Alerts: Medical Marijuana, Plan Colombia, HEA, Ashcroft's Attack
on Judicial Discretion |
Perry Fund
Accepting Applications for 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 School Years, Providing
Scholarships for Students Losing Aid Because of Drug Convictions |
Errata:
Last Week's Corrupt Cops Story |
The Reformer's
Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
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