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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 2, 1963)
Inequities Coed in vAcany Fedeircal Court (DecisioBiis By LOUIS CASSELS ' United Press Inttrnatlonal ! Washington OIPD A iormer Army officer who had never been in trouble before was convicted in a m i J western federal court of writing sev eral bad checks. . He was sentenced to 18 years is prison.' About the same time, I man with a long criminal rec ord was found guilty In a California federal court of robbing a bank. He drew a jail sentence of three months. Such gross inequities in sentencing are by no means unusual in the federal court 'system. A justice department study recently showed that the average sentence for aufo theft ranges from 11 months in the western district of New York to 46 months in the southern district of Iowa. A forger convicted in Maine can expect a sentence of about nine months, but if he is con victed in Oklahoma, he is likely to be sent up for 63 months seven times as stiff a penalty for the same of fense. Injustice Seen Practically everyone who has ever taken a close look at the U.S. judicial system has decried the injustice of this, and has urged that something be done about it. .. But correcting inequities in sentencing is easier to pre scribe than to accomplish. There are 302 federal district judges in the Untied States,' and each is free to be as tough or as lenient as he thinks best, within the limits set by sta'ule. These limits are usually . pretty broad, so there is ample room for judges to dis play their individuality, dis pensing taps on the wrist or sentences of almost sadistic severity. When Congress has taken away judges' discretion in sentencing, by prescribing mandatory rather than flex ible penalties, it has usually made' matters worse instead of better. ''- There is widespread agree ment among jurists and penal authorities, for example, that some of the worst offenses against justice have resulted from the federal narcotics . law, which fixes stiff manda tory sentences, with 'no hope of parole,' even for those who are led Into small time drug peddling because they are ad dicts themselves. Answer Sought What, then, can be done to secure the "equal justice un der law" which is supposedly guaranteed to all Americans, including those standing up to be sentenced in federal courts? " ' " One solution, which has been widely adopted by state courts and long advocated by Federal Prisons Director James V. Bennett,, is the so called "indeterm i n a t e sen tence." The judge sentences the offender to prison for a flexible term, and leaves it up to the parole board to decide, after a careful investigation of his rehabilitation possibili ties, when he should be re leased. Bennett emphasizes that the indeterminate sentence is not a plan for coddling criminals. Some studies indicate that hardened offenders actually serve longer terms in prison under his system than when the judge sets a definite sen tence. : Number Doubles The number of adult fed eral offenders given indeter minate sentences has more than doubled during the past two fiscal years. Counting youths (who. are more likely to receive such flexible penal ties) about one-sixth of the 15,000 persons committed to federal prisons last year went in on indeterminate sentences. Despite their growing ac ceptance' iiZ flcxiiile sentenc ing, federal courts are still far behind state courts in this field. Last year, more than half of all state prisoners were committed under inde terminate sentences. Another way to achieve greater fairness in sentences is to bring judges together to discuss the problem. During recent years, "sentencing in stitutes" have been conducted for federal judges in all parts of the country. Experts from the bureau of prisons and the parole" board confer with judges at these institutes, and typical case histories are dis cussed. " , Institutes Pay "The institutes have done a great job, especially with the conscientious younger judges who are comparatively new to the bench," said a federal of ficial who has participated in many of them. "The only trouble. is that we can't make any judge attend, and the ones who need it most - the ornery old-timers who glory in a reputation for 'throwing the book' - rarely show up." A third device for correct ing gross inequities in sen tencing is executive clemency. The president has power to commute, or reduce, the sen tence of any federal prisoner, on the recommendation of the attorney general. The Kennedy administra tion has made increasing use of this power in recent years. Soon after he took office, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy announced that he intended to recommend presi dential commutations in cases where sentences "are obvious ly and severely out of line with justice as well as with the prevailing sentencing practice among federal courts." Use Sparingly He said, however, that this power would be used sparing ly because he was "extremely hesitant" to "change the judg ments of the courts." During the 1962 fiscal year -the first complete fiscal year under the Kennedy adminis tration - 16 coimnula t i o n s were approved by the White House. This far exceeded the average of five a year granted by president Eisenhower. ' During the first eight months ot the current 1963 fiscal year - that is to say, through March 31 - 38 com mutations were granted. If this pace is continued throughout the fiscal year, the total will be about 57 - more than Eisenhower approved during his entire eight years in office. . Case History The kind of situation In which commutation may be recommended by the justice department is illustrated by the following actual case history: A 20-year-old Los Angeles man, with a wife and two chil dren, was blinded by acid sprayed in his face during -an industrial accident. His wife divorced him and took cus tody of the children. Later, he recovered his eyesight. Des perate for money with which to try to get his family back, he went to Georgia and rob bed a bank of $5,000. He got away safely to California, but then became remorseful about the crime - his first violation of law - and turned himself in to the FBI. The Judge sentenced him to 40 years in prison. By the time the caw came up for Justice Department study, he had served nine years, had an excellent prison record, and had been trained as a skilled surgical nurse and technician. His sentence was commuted to 15 years-about the national average for bank robbery - which made him eligible for immediate parole. Not Automatic Reed Cozart, Justice De partment pardon attorney, said that commutations are recommended only upon re view of applications submit ted by prisoners. "We have no provision for automatic review, of all sen tences, such as the armed forces have,", he explained. "We act only upon applica tions." ' . : ,', . .. ; .. Although' the current level of commutations is high hy comparison to the past, it's'ill represents only a tiny frac tion of the 24,000 persons serving sentences in federal prisons. And Attorney Gener al Kennedy says: "Commutations are at best only stop-gaps, in a few cases. They, can in no way solve) the problem of disparities in sentencing. ,.,.... ''In the long run, a flexible sentencing procedure which works to rehabilitate offend ers offers the best hope for rectifying the great variation in sentencing practices, which is one of our foremost prob lems in the administration of justice." SECT'ON .C Medford m as. .. PAGES 1 to lo Tribune MEDFORD, OREGON, THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1963 Controversy Over Law Enforcement Still Undecided , Yreka-A controversy over law enforcement in the unin corporated areas of Siskiyou county is still up in the air today, after a county board of supervisors committee Tues day afternoon failed to reach agreement on the matter. The committee will meet again next Tuesday. On . opposing sides in the controversy are Sheriff A. B. Cottar of Siskiyou county and the Siskiyou county board of supervisors. Sheriff Cottar contends that he must have either more money or more deputies in or der to operate. The board has turned down his request. "My men have been getting paid on the basis of a 40-hour work week but have actually been working 50 to 55 hours a week," the sheriff said. He ; blamed poor working condi tions for a rather large turn over in the sheriff's depart ment during the past 3V4 years. The average number Historical Meeting Set for Late July Ashland-The Third Annual Southern Oregon Historical Conference will be held July 27. at Southern Oregon col lege, Ashland, and at Jackson ville under the sponsorship of the Southern Oregon Histori cal Society and SOC. i Dr. Hector Lcc, dean of instruction, Sonoma State col- lege, and Dr. Vaughn Eornet, chairman of the SOC social science division, have been chosen speakers by the com- : mittee on arrangements. The committee also has cheduled a luncheon, a tea and reception at the pioneer Hanley home near Jackson- ' vine, and visits to the Jack (onville Museum, the Beck man bank, the Bceknan home, and other Interesting points in southern Oregon. A block of reserved scats ' for the opening performance of "Henry V" at the Oregon Shakespearean Festival has been reserved for conference members, according to Dr. Ar thur S. Taylor, professor of social science Rt Southern Oregon college and chairman of the arrangements commit tee for the Southern Oregon Historical Conference. ) of employees in the depart ment during this period has been 21, while the turnover during the same period has totaled 41. Grand Jury Recommendation The county grand jury re cently recommended that steps be taken either .to hire additional deputies or raise the salaries of those working overtime, Sheriff Cottar added. The board of supervisors, on the other hand, announced that it was turning down Cot tar's request for additional funds "feeling that we have had very good law enforce ment, and there is no real need for additional services." The board also indicated disapproval of the fact that Cottar "took his case to the people" prior to the budget hearings by speaking before various organizations in the county and urging residents to write letters to the board supporting his request. Moves Deputies . . 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