President Obama
recently commuted the sentences of 46 criminals convicted of drug
offenses; 14 were serving life sentences. In doing so, he said:
“Over the last few years, a lot of people have become aware of the inequities in the criminal justices system. The fact that we spend more than $80 billion a year incarcerating people, who oftentimes have only been engaged in non-violent drug offenses. Right now ... people all across the country are coming together with ideas to make the system work smarter, work better, and I’m determined to do my part wherever I can.
“I’ve made clear to them, that reentering society
is going to require responsibility on their part, and hard work, and
smarter choices.
“I believe that at its heart, America is a nation of second chances, and I believe these folks deserve their second chance.”
On Sunday, this newspaper published an op-ed written by Scott Reeder -- with whom I usually agree. In it, he sounded a good deal like President Obama.
“Growing up ... in Galesburg, I would look out my bedroom window at night and see ... the prison lights. I wondered why folks were locked up there. Many were there for drug crimes and other non-violent offenses. When it comes to drugs, wealthy and middle-class folks end up in rehab and low-income ones end up doing time. ...
“Prisons are taking a devastating toll on our state’s inner cities.”
On Monday, the lead editorial in this newspaper from the Seattle Times tells us it’s “Time to overhaul America’s criminal-justice system.”
“President Obama has seized on the righteous issue of mass incarceration ....
“Since the start of the war on drugs ... the population in state and federal prisons has exploded more than 500 percent.
“The lifetime likelihood for a white male to go to prison is 1 in 17; for black men, it is 1 in 3.
“If you’re a low-level drug dealer, or violate your parole, you owe some debt to society... But you don’t owe 20 years. You don’t owe a life sentence.”
The penalties in Illinois are higher for controlled substances than they are for cannabis.
They are also higher for delivery than they are for possession. Due to word limits, I am setting out only the lowest and highest penalties (not intermediate ones).
Cannabis Possession and Delivery
Possession of more than 30 grams but not more than 500 grams of any substance containing cannabis is a Class 4 felony, punishable by 1 to 3 years. (three years in Illinois, with good-time credits means nine months). Probation is the statutorily “preferred” sentence.
Possession of more than 5,000 grams of cannabis is a Class 1 felony punishable by four to 15 years. (Probation preferred disposition).
Delivery of more than 10 but not more than 30 grams of cannabis is a class four felony, punishable by one to three years. (Probation preferred disposition)
Delivery of 5,000 grams of cannabis or more is a Class X felony, punishable by six to 30 years. (Class X felonies carry no good-time credits; probation not possible).
Cocaine Possession and Delivery
Possession of more than 15 but not more than 100 grams of any substance containing cocaine carries 4 to 15 years. (Probation preferred disposition)
Possession of 900 grams or more of any substance containing cocaine carries 10 to 50 years. (No probation)
Delivery of 1 gram or more but less than 15 grams of any substance containing cocaine carries 4 to 15 years. (Probation preferred disposition if less than 5 grams. No probation, if more)
Delivery of 900 grams or more of a substance containing cocaine carries 15 to 60 years. (No probation possible)
Thirty grams is roughly 1 oz., 500 grams is roughly 1 lbs. and 5,000 grams is roughly 10 lbs.
In the years I was on the criminal bench, I don’t ever recall sending a true first- offender to prison for a Class 4 felony possession of cannabis. They got probation.
And generally, if they had no other record, they got more probation if the violated the first probation by getting caught with more cannabis. We realized that it cost about $30,000 a year to send a convicted criminal to prison.
But often, the first-time cannabis offender had a prior record of other crimes. And it is not honest to call a guy with two prior burglary convictions a first-time offender simply because this is his first conviction for possession of cannabis.
Similarly, when a guy on probation for cannabis possession got re-arrested and shipped to prison for pistol-whipping a rival drug dealer on a street corner, it is at best a half-truth to say he was imprisoned for a non-violent drug offense.
It is asserted that “Prisons are taking a devastating toll on our state’s inner cities.” I would suggest that drug trafficking and the related violence is taken an even greater toll. The Chicago gangs are fighting and killing people over who controls the drug traffic. A lawyer friend of mine, now a judge, once told me that when people get “hooked on crack, it becomes their God.” Delivery of a drug of that sort is a non-violent crime in name only. Is it worse to destroy a person by selling him crack cocaine than it is to shoot him? Cocaine destroys not only the user, but the lives of spouses and children.
It is said that, the “lifetime likelihood for a white male to go to prison is 1 in 17; for a black male, it is 1 in 3.” But if 1 in 3 black males (or 1 in 17 white males) are going to prison, doesn’t that at least mean that 1 in 3 black men (or 1 in 17 white men) have committed a crime that a judge -- white or black -- deems proportionate with incarceration?
And while drug treatment was an option for the “rich,” it was also available for the indigent.
The president says he believes that his 46 criminals serving 20 years to life “deserve their second chance.” To do what? Live good lives, or resume their lives of crime? And how does someone get 20 years or life for a first-time non-violent drug offense? How much “death” do you have to “deal” to get “life?”
And if it costs 80 billion to incarcerate, what will it cost the public in property and destroyed lives if we empty the prisons of the so-called non-violent drug offenders? Chicago is the poster child.
“Over the last few years, a lot of people have become aware of the inequities in the criminal justices system. The fact that we spend more than $80 billion a year incarcerating people, who oftentimes have only been engaged in non-violent drug offenses. Right now ... people all across the country are coming together with ideas to make the system work smarter, work better, and I’m determined to do my part wherever I can.
“That’s one of the reasons I am commuting the
sentences of 46 prisoners who were convicted many years or in some cases
decades ago. These men and women were not hardened criminals. But the
overwhelming majority had been sentenced to at least 20 years. Fourteen
have been sentenced to life for non-violent drug offenses. So their
punishments didn’t fit the crime. And if they’d been sentenced under
today’s laws, nearly all of them would have already served their time.
“I believe that at its heart, America is a nation of second chances, and I believe these folks deserve their second chance.”
On Sunday, this newspaper published an op-ed written by Scott Reeder -- with whom I usually agree. In it, he sounded a good deal like President Obama.
“Growing up ... in Galesburg, I would look out my bedroom window at night and see ... the prison lights. I wondered why folks were locked up there. Many were there for drug crimes and other non-violent offenses. When it comes to drugs, wealthy and middle-class folks end up in rehab and low-income ones end up doing time. ...
“Prisons are taking a devastating toll on our state’s inner cities.”
On Monday, the lead editorial in this newspaper from the Seattle Times tells us it’s “Time to overhaul America’s criminal-justice system.”
“President Obama has seized on the righteous issue of mass incarceration ....
“Since the start of the war on drugs ... the population in state and federal prisons has exploded more than 500 percent.
“The lifetime likelihood for a white male to go to prison is 1 in 17; for black men, it is 1 in 3.
“If you’re a low-level drug dealer, or violate your parole, you owe some debt to society... But you don’t owe 20 years. You don’t owe a life sentence.”
The penalties in Illinois are higher for controlled substances than they are for cannabis.
They are also higher for delivery than they are for possession. Due to word limits, I am setting out only the lowest and highest penalties (not intermediate ones).
Cannabis Possession and Delivery
Possession of more than 30 grams but not more than 500 grams of any substance containing cannabis is a Class 4 felony, punishable by 1 to 3 years. (three years in Illinois, with good-time credits means nine months). Probation is the statutorily “preferred” sentence.
Possession of more than 5,000 grams of cannabis is a Class 1 felony punishable by four to 15 years. (Probation preferred disposition).
Delivery of more than 10 but not more than 30 grams of cannabis is a class four felony, punishable by one to three years. (Probation preferred disposition)
Delivery of 5,000 grams of cannabis or more is a Class X felony, punishable by six to 30 years. (Class X felonies carry no good-time credits; probation not possible).
Cocaine Possession and Delivery
Possession of more than 15 but not more than 100 grams of any substance containing cocaine carries 4 to 15 years. (Probation preferred disposition)
Possession of 900 grams or more of any substance containing cocaine carries 10 to 50 years. (No probation)
Delivery of 1 gram or more but less than 15 grams of any substance containing cocaine carries 4 to 15 years. (Probation preferred disposition if less than 5 grams. No probation, if more)
Delivery of 900 grams or more of a substance containing cocaine carries 15 to 60 years. (No probation possible)
Thirty grams is roughly 1 oz., 500 grams is roughly 1 lbs. and 5,000 grams is roughly 10 lbs.
In the years I was on the criminal bench, I don’t ever recall sending a true first- offender to prison for a Class 4 felony possession of cannabis. They got probation.
And generally, if they had no other record, they got more probation if the violated the first probation by getting caught with more cannabis. We realized that it cost about $30,000 a year to send a convicted criminal to prison.
But often, the first-time cannabis offender had a prior record of other crimes. And it is not honest to call a guy with two prior burglary convictions a first-time offender simply because this is his first conviction for possession of cannabis.
Similarly, when a guy on probation for cannabis possession got re-arrested and shipped to prison for pistol-whipping a rival drug dealer on a street corner, it is at best a half-truth to say he was imprisoned for a non-violent drug offense.
It is asserted that “Prisons are taking a devastating toll on our state’s inner cities.” I would suggest that drug trafficking and the related violence is taken an even greater toll. The Chicago gangs are fighting and killing people over who controls the drug traffic. A lawyer friend of mine, now a judge, once told me that when people get “hooked on crack, it becomes their God.” Delivery of a drug of that sort is a non-violent crime in name only. Is it worse to destroy a person by selling him crack cocaine than it is to shoot him? Cocaine destroys not only the user, but the lives of spouses and children.
It is said that, the “lifetime likelihood for a white male to go to prison is 1 in 17; for a black male, it is 1 in 3.” But if 1 in 3 black males (or 1 in 17 white males) are going to prison, doesn’t that at least mean that 1 in 3 black men (or 1 in 17 white men) have committed a crime that a judge -- white or black -- deems proportionate with incarceration?
And while drug treatment was an option for the “rich,” it was also available for the indigent.
The president says he believes that his 46 criminals serving 20 years to life “deserve their second chance.” To do what? Live good lives, or resume their lives of crime? And how does someone get 20 years or life for a first-time non-violent drug offense? How much “death” do you have to “deal” to get “life?”
And if it costs 80 billion to incarcerate, what will it cost the public in property and destroyed lives if we empty the prisons of the so-called non-violent drug offenders? Chicago is the poster child.
Posted: Friday, July 31, 2015 11:00 pm
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