INCARCERATION IS EXPENSIVE

US ATTORNEY Michael Sullivan's undifferentiated use of maximum
sentences in all cases ("Tougher federal sentences pushed," Page A1,
Nov. 16) ought to raise the concerns of all taxpayers in this time of
fiscal constraint.

Incarceration in prison is an extremely expensive penalty. It is
fiscally irresponsible to impose an arbitrarily lengthy period of
incarceration where a lesser prison sentence is more appropriate.
Minor participants in a drug operation do not deserve harsher
penalties than armed robbers or rapists.

A prosecutor who fails to distinguish between the most serious
criminal offenders and the less serious is abdicating his
responsibility as a public official to efficiently use taxpayer dollars.

MICHAEL J. TRAFT

Boston