In recent years, there has been a growing consensus throughout the United States that mass incarceration is both fiscally and morally unsustainable. The United States is currently the world leader in the use of imprisonment and this phenomenon has produced a host of undesirable side effects.
If a defendant is convicted in a criminal prosecution, the event that follows the verdict is called sentencing. A sentence (time served in prison) is the penalty ordered by the court. Generally, the primary goals of sentencing are punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation. In some states, juries may be entitled to pronounce sentence, but in federal court, sentencing is performed by an unelected judge.
For serious crimes, sentencing is usually pronounced at a sentencing hearing, where the prosecutor and the defendant present their arguments regarding the penalty. For violations and other minor charges, sentencing is either predetermined or pronounced immediately after conviction.
Decades of harsh and extreme sentencing has left us with the world’s highest incarceration rate.
Incarceration is a permanent punishment for many Americans. Even after they’re released from prison, parole conditions require formerly incarcerated people to pay restitution, supervision fees, and other costs. Loss of employment and housing, threatened immigration status, and disqualification from benefits such as student loans, and certain licenses often condemn formerly incarcerated people and their families to lifelong poverty.
Many voices have begun calling for smart reforms to undo our reliance on abusive and hopeless sentencing policies. There is a great deal of evidence that excessive mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenders have few, if any, deterrent effects.
In April 2013, a 46-year-old fast food restaurant worker and father of 3 named John Horner was sentenced to 25 years in prison for selling $1,800 worth of painkillers. While many recognize the harm drugs do to our society, it is difficult to comprehend just how a 25 year sentence would be justified in a case like this. We seem to have become a throwaway society in many ways and when it comes to prison sentences, it certainly seems to be the case.
In 2008, Kyle Kimoto, father of 6 young children was sentenced to 30 years in prison for ‘false or misleading advertising’. The Prosecutors claimed that a ‘travel package’ product sold by Kimoto’s Company in 2001 (when Kimoto was just 24 years old) which included a ‘prepaid debit card’ that was described/marketed by Kyle Kimoto’s Marketing Company as a “Pay-As-You-Go MasterCard”. The Government claimed that this made customers believe they would get a ‘conventional credit card’, not a ‘debit card’. Kyle Kimoto was ultimately convicted and sentenced as a first time, non-violent offender to a staggering 30 years in prison.
Overly harsh and extreme sentences are not only unfair and harmful to the individuals that receive them, but many forget the Families are always made to suffer as well. It is not to say that prison is never justified, but clearly should be given fairly and equally and not as in some cases excessively & unusually long. Not only are some extreme sentences unfair to the convict and their family, but also often unfairly victimize the U.S. Taxpayer. In 2017 the average cost of incarceration for Federal inmates was $36,299.25 per year, and with the added cost of Government Benefits to support many families as their parent is incarcerated can exceed even the cost of incarceration. The combined costs to taxpayers for a 30 year sentence like in the case of Kyle Kimoto could leave the taxpayer on the hook for $2 Million dollars or more.
Human beings are not perfect and we all make mistakes, but we seem to have departed from the Judeo-Christian values our Great Nation was founded on. We used to believe in strong individualism, in self-reliance, in Justice and Mercy, and in redemption. We claim to believe in rehabilitation, yet far too many Americans have been sent away to Prison for Decades for nonviolent, often first time offenses.
Happily, there is a growing movement to change bad policies like mandatory minimum sentences, and to begin to turn away from extremely harsh and long prison sentences for non-violent offenders that do not pose a physical threat to others. Still, so many are currently serving excessive sentences and can only hope they will not be left out of any future fixes to a broken system.
While there are far too many examples of overly harsh sentences, we are trying to shine a spotlight on the Injustice that has been effecting our family. Please consider lending your voice to help us.
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