September 01, 2009
Tuesday

This bill is an attempt to shorten the sentences of prison inmates who serve their time without problems and earn credit to shorten their sentences. Not everyone knows about this law unless you have relatives who are serving time, or who are in a criminal justice or law enforcement.

There are more Americans in prison as a percentage of population than in any other country. Is it a prejudiced system? No kidding. One out of ten black adult males are doing time. Why do we have plea bargaining? The judges and lawyers says it saves tax dollars, but it costs about $200-$300 per day, or over $100,000 a year per prisoner, and it's not even a nice hotel at that. Plea bargaining causes innocent people to serve time, as prosecutors and lawyers intimidate defendants with evidence scares. "You don't have a chance" they are told. 'Better accept the lesser of two evils,' they say. The whole plea bargaining system is an evil, usurping a persons constitutional right to a trial by one's peers.

Actually, plea bargaining is an attempt by judges and lawyers to speed up trials. With a huge back log of cases, people were spending too much time awaiting a trial.

Google up the status of HR 1475 and read the law. Contact your representative too. Let your opinion be known on this one. There are so many people in jail who should not be there. Recidivism is very high. Prisons are not the answer. Long sentences serve no good purpose and are an excessive drain on taxpayer dollars.

Joyce L Baldwin
Ketchikan, AK

Received August 31, 2009 - Published September 01, 2009

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