SENTENCING PANEL LOOKS TO OTHER STATES FOR ANSWERS

The Alabama Sentencing Commission has quite a balancing act on its hands.

The commission wants to establish more truth in sentencing, eliminate large
disparities in sentences for similar crimes, find a system that allows
judges to retain discretion in sentences and arrange an array of sentencing
options for judges.

"We're trying to weigh all the angles," said state Rep. Marcel Black of
Colbert County, who is on the 17-member commission.

The Legislature created the commission in 2000 to form a comprehensive
sentencing plan for Alabama.

It has a detailed initial report and intends to present a full report to
the Legislature in 2003.

The initial report lists as commission tasks for 2002:

- -- Examine the "good time" laws that let inmates out early.

- -- Examine truth-in-sentencing issues.

- -- Collect sentencing data in Alabama to get a perspective on current
practices.

- -- Promote drug courts for drug offenders and expanded use of sentencing
alternatives.

- -- Provide peer assistance through the Community Corrections Team.

"This past year, we've been studying Alabama procedure and the effects of
sentencing in Alabama on the prison population," commission Executive
Director Lynda Flynt said.

Black said the commission looks at the types of sentences issued for
similar crimes throughout Alabama.

"We have an eye toward having a kind of truth in sentencing and more
balanced sentencing, where if you commit a crime in southeast Alabama, the
same crime in northwest Alabama would pretty much have the same sentence,"
said Black, who is on the committee by virtue of his position as chairman
of the House's Judiciary Committee.

Black said the commission wants an accurate idea of someone's sentence,
without restricting circuit court judges.

Flynt said they also are looking into sentencing practices and structures
in other states.

As an example, Virginia has a point system. The higher the points, the more
costly the sentence.

An example given by the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission shows an
assault offender. The person gets between 1 and 7 points for the crime. An
attempted assault is 1 point. An assault causing malicious injury is 7 points.

Points also add up for reasons such as being a repeat offender, the type of
weapon and seriousness of the injuries. A chart gives a standard sentence
and sentence range for those points.

Kansas uses a grid system. Grids are established with the criminal history
categories along the horizontal axis and crime severity level along the
vertical axis, according to the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Desk Reference
Manual. There are separate grids for drug and nondrug crimes.

Criminal history axis runs from letters A to I in categories, with A the
worst criminal history and I the least criminal history.

Severity axis levels range from numbers 1-10 for nondrug offenses and 1-5
for drug offenses.

The lower the number, the more severe it is.

Each grid box has three numbers. The middle one is the recommended sentence
for the crime. The highest number is the sentence for aggravated
circumstances that call for a higher sentence, and the lowest is the number
for mitigating circumstances that call for a lesser sentence.

For example, the grid for letter I along the horizontal axis and number 10
along the vertical axis calls for a six-month sentence, with seven months
being the worst sentence and five months being the easiest sentence.

The grid for A-1 calls for 620 months, with 653 being the highest sentence
and 592 the lowest.

The grid does not apply to first-degree murder and treason because of the
severity of the crimes.