JUST SENTENCES

In his Aug. 31 op-ed article "Savage Sentences," Kyle O'Dowd, general
counsel for Families Against Mandatory Minimums, urges presidential
candidate George W. Bush to "take a moral stance against sentencing laws
that deny young adults a second chance at success." Mr. O'Dowd uses
anecdotal evidence to argue that state and federal criminal justice systems
lack forgiveness for "youthful mistakes."

As a former federal prosecutor in Virginia, I have seen many mandatory
minimum terms imposed by the court. But since the creation of mandatory
minimums in the federal system in the '80s, Congress has enacted legislation
to give first-time federal drug traffickers more lenient treatment than
those defendants who have criminal records.

This statute permits a judge to sentence first-time narcotics offenders to a
reduced term of imprisonment where the defendant did not use violence,
credible threats of violence, a firearm or dangerous weapon while committing
the crime; where the crime did not result in death or serious bodily injury;
where the defendant did not lead, manage, supervise or organize others in
the commission of the crime; and where the defendant provided all
information and evidence he or she possessed about the crime to law
enforcement officials.

In addition, many criminal defendants are offered an opportunity to reduce
their prison sentences by providing information about criminal activity
conducted by other individuals. In some federal courts, defendants routinely
receive a two-thirds cut in their terms of imprisonment for providing
"substantial assistance" in the investigation and prosecution of other
criminals. In many cases I prosecuted, the defendant's 10-year mandatory
minimum sentence thus was reduced to three or four years.

Mr. O'Dowd's article also did not note a crucial distinction in federal laws
between drug trafficking and drug use. Traffickers, and those who knowingly
assist them, bear the brunt of law enforcement efforts and the brunt of
mandatory minimum terms. In the federal system, a first-time conviction for
possession rarely results in jail time.

Lengthy terms of imprisonment are caused by unrepentant and uncooperative
individuals such as Lacy Davis, a cocaine dealer who was able to walk away
from his first narcotics conviction -- involving a kilogram of cocaine -- by
paying a fine because he was in a Maryland court that lacked mandatory
minimum terms. Mr. Davis continued to deal cocaine until he got caught in
Virginia in 1994 and was prosecuted in the federal system. He was ultimately
sentenced to a 20-year mandatory minimum term.

Mr. O'Dowd says prison ruins the future of those imprisoned, but the bright
futures of law-abiding citizens are worth protecting more than those who
prey on them.

As for Mr. O'Dowd's argument that "treatment is eight times more effective
than long sentences in reducing demand for drugs," even if this is true for
users, it isn't true for dealers. The financial reward offered by narcotics
trafficking is a much more powerful lure for some people than the
alternative: years of education and disciplined hard work toward the
attainment of a marketable skill or career.

Leslie B. Mcclendon, Alexandria

The writer is an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office in
the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division.