Sentencing:
Justice
Kennedy
Lashes
Out
at
Harsh
Prison
Terms
7/14/06
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/444/justice-kennedy-sentencing-criticism.shtml
US Supreme Court Justice
Anthony Kennedy told a gathering of judges in Southern California Sunday
US sentencing practices were harsh and troubling. US sentences are
eight times longer than those in Europe, Kennedy said, adding that the
public needed to be aware of the length of sentences in the US.
|
 |
|
Justice Kennedy
|
"If an 18-year-old is growing
marijuana for a friend, that's distribution," said Kennedy in remarks
reported by the Orange County Register. "If he has his father's
.22 rifle, that's a firearm. That will get 15 years. Did you
know what 15 years was when you were 18? I didn't when I was 18."
Kennedy, a Sacramento native
who was recently designated Supreme Court justice for the 9th US Circuit
Court of Appeals, also criticized state sentencing practices. He
noted pointedly that California alone has more than 200,000 people behind
bars.
Kennedy also complained that
the people at whom the harsh sentences are aimed are largely unaware of
them until they fall into the hands of the criminal justice system.
"If sentences are to be a deterrent, what is the good of them if nobody
knows how long they are?" he said.
-- END --
|
Issue #444
-- 7/14/06
Editorial:
Not
Playing
by
the
Rules,
Not
Making
Sense
|
Appeal/Book
Offer:
Race
to
Incarcerate,
by
Marc
Mauer
|
Feature:
Judge
Throws
Out
Part
of
Alaska
Marijuana
Recriminalization
Law,
Up
to
An
Ounce
is
Now
Legal
At
Home
|
Feature:
Methamphetamine
as
Child
Abuse
Laws
Gain
Ground,
But
Do
They
Help
or
Hurt?
|
Law
Enforcement:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Story
|
Law
Enforcement:
Goose
Creek
Agrees
to
Pay
Up,
Change
Ways
in
Settlement
of
Notorious
High
School
Drug
Raid
Case
|
Sentencing:
California
Governor
Signs
Bill
Amending
Proposition
36,
Is
Immediately
Sued
|
Search
and
Seizure:
Vermont
Judge
Says
State
Constitution
Provides
Protection
Even
if
Federal
Doesn't
|
Sentencing:
Justice
Kennedy
Lashes
Out
at
Harsh
Prison
Terms
|
Harm
Reduction:
San
Diego
Reinstates
Needle
Exchange
Program
|
First
Amendment:
New
Michigan
Law
Bans
Methamphetamine
Recipes
on
Internet
|
Middle
East:
US
Troops,
Iraqi
Police
Seize
Marijuana
Plants
|
Web
Scan:
Sentencing
Project
and
Others
Report
to
UN
Human
Rights
Committee,
CURE
on
Prisons
in
OAS
|
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
|
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
PERMISSION to reprint or
redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby
granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and,
where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your
publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks
payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we
request notification for our records, including physical copies where
material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202)
293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank
you.
Articles of a purely
educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet
Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
|
