MANDATORY-MINIMUM SENTENCES A SLAP TO JUDGES

I was deeply impressed by the lack of power that judges have in our courts
after reading U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb's comments in the
April 16 news story on the sentencing of Dawn Roth. Judge Crabb was forced
to sentence Roth to 37 months in prison, over her own objections, due to
federal sentencing guidelines, often called "mandatory-minimum" sentencing.

Mandatory minimum sentences are a disgrace to democracy. We, the people,
elect judges to be arbiters of justice, and we want judges to make
sentencing decisions, not prosecutors. No two crimes are exactly alike, and
we need to allow judges the ability to make free decisions in these matters.

Jesse Goplen, Richland Center

Editor's note: Circuit court judges in Wisconsin, who often handle state
drug cases, are elected. But federal judges like Crabb are appointed for
life.