“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.

These profound words boldly written by Our Founders in the Declaration of Independence declared to the world the simple Truth that we are ALL CREATED EQUAL. While human beings are not perfect, it is important that we all strive to live up to this self-evident Truth that we are all Created Equal, and therefore must all be treated equally under the Law.

The words “EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW” are written above the main entrance to the Supreme Court Building, and these words express the ultimate responsibility of the Supreme Court, and entire Justice System of the United States. Obviously this is much easier said than done, and our Great Nation has struggled since our Founding to live up to the ideals set out in our Founding Documents and that struggle continues today as criminal justice reform has been made a priority by the current administration.

Evidence collected over the past decades clearly shows that lengthy & excessive mandatory sentences do not reduce crime, but instead impose high economic costs and a number of social costs on the taxpayers as well as the families affected. Mandatory minimum sentencing laws also tend to create unwarranted disparities by treating similar offenders differently and different offenders the same, The American People have begun to see the wisdom and necessity of considering all the relevant facts and circumstances of a crime and an individual convicted of a crime to ensure a fair punishment.

The United States has come to rely on its criminal justice system and particularly lengthy prison terms more than any other nation. With just 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. holds nearly 25% of the world’s prisoners, including one-third of all women incarcerated worldwide. The tremendous cost for this over-reliance on prison is financially unsustainable and has caused a terrible human toll on far too many families.

The U.S. federal prison population has increased nearly 800% since 1980 and more than doubled since 1994. Prison spending has increased 1700% over the same period, and federal prisons are currently operating at 131% of capacity. This is due in significant degree to the proliferation of mandatory minimum sentences. There is consensus across the political spectrum that our criminal justice system is out of balance and in need of significant reform. Many states have enacted bipartisan “smart-on-crime” reforms that achieve significant cost savings and reduce crime.

The FIRST STEP Act is a good first step in transforming federal prisons into safe and effective facilities that will hopefully reduce recidivism and strengthen our communities and economy. The legislation expands rehabilitative programming and earned-time credit opportunities. It also reduces and clarifies mandatory minimums and better provides for the needs of federal prisoners.

The Department of Justice has been directed to develop a Post-Sentencing Risk and Needs Assessment System that will be implemented in all federal facilities. The individual risks and needs of prisoners then will be re-assessed every year.

The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has been directed to increase and improve prison programming, including through partnerships with outside nonprofit and faith-based organizations. Programs deemed “evidence-based” or “productive activities” may qualify for earned-time credits.

Incentives are provided for successful program completion and responsible conduct during incarceration, such as increased phone and visitation privileges, increased commissary spending levels, and opportunities to serve sentences in facilities closer to home. Some federal prisoners, based on their risk level and conviction, may use these credits to complete more of their sentence outside of prison in home confinement or a residential reentry center.

“When people receive sentences that don’t fit their crime, America loses. Disproportional sentences are an affront to the dignity of people made in the image of God and erode faith in the notion of ‘equal justice under the law’.” – Craig DeRoche

Once again, the FIRST STEP Act is a good first step, and will take time to begin to implement, to assess and to build upon. Clearly it would not be a good idea to simply open the prison gates and turn lose all Federal Inmates as Justice sometimes requires prison and even in some cases long prison sentences to protect the public from some violent felons. Unfortunately, the current system does not do a very good job of separating out violent from non-violent criminals. Sadly, in many cases non-violent criminals are often sent to prison for much longer sentences than violent criminals.

We hope that the current interest in the topic will not be short lived and that our fellow Americans will remain focused and engaged in this important issue. Please consider getting involved whenever you see a specific case of Injustice and help to bring the stories of individuals mistreated by the current system to light.

One day a woman went down to a local beach and when she arrived she saw a man near the water, and he was picking things up and throwing them into the ocean. As she got closer, she noticed there were thousands of starfish that had been washed up on the beach and were sure to die as the tide went out. These were the objects the man was throwing. The woman said to the man, “what are you doing, there are thousands of them… you can’t possibly make a difference!” The man turned to look at the woman, then bent down, picked up a stranded starfish and hurled it back into the Ocean. He then said to the woman, “I made a difference to that one!”

Our Father, Kyle Kimoto is one of those stranded and dying starfish and has already served 12 years of an extremely unfair 30 Year Sentence for “Deceptive Marketing”. If you would like to help our family, please consider writing a letter to the President to ask that he reduce our father’s unfair prison sentence.
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