FOCUS ON FAIRNESS IN PRISON SENTENCES

Take Cue From Justice Anthony Kennedy

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has taken a more sensible
approach to prison sentences than has Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Kennedy said recently that Congress should revise federal sentencing
guidelines. As he pointed out, the guidelines contribute to a prison system
that's crowded, expensive and ineffective in preparing inmates to re-enter
society.

Ashcroft, by contrast, has directed government attorneys to tell the
Justice Department any time a judge pronounces a sentence below the range
called for in guidelines.

The attorney general is trying to exert unwarranted pressure on judges. He
said he was just living up to his department's "solemn obligation to ensure
that laws concerning criminal sentence are faithfully, fairly and
consistently enforced."

Ashcroft's directive, however, creates an unnecessarily adversarial
atmosphere by making it seem that Big Brother is watching judges. And this
may well worsen the problem of crowded prisons.

Congress mandated federal sentencing guidelines in 1984. They became
effective in late 1987. The idea was to create consistent and fair
sentences for people convicted of similar crimes, and to make sure convicts
served their time. The guidelines apply to all federal felonies and most
serious misdemeanors. They take into account the seriousness of the crime
and the guilty person's criminal history.

But Kennedy says mandatory minimum sentences for some federal crimes mean
judges can't take special circumstances into consideration so punishments
will more closely fit the crimes.

"In all too many cases," Kennedy told a recent meeting of the American Bar
Association, "mandatory minimum sentences are unjust." One result is that
America's prisons are more crowded than ever.

In many cases the cells are filled with nonviolent offenders who should
repay their debt to society in other ways. This is especially true of many
inmates with drug convictions.

Kennedy is on the right track. Ashcroft isn't. Congress should work with
the U.S. Sentencing Commission to make the guidelines more fair and effective.