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 . .
When the sheriff's request
was turned down by the
board, Cottar moved the de
partment's five residents depu
ties from oytlying areas such
as Happy Camp, Tulclake and
Mt. Shasta into Yreka to
relieve the overworked per
sonnel in the main office.
"I'm still running cars out
to those areas on patrol," he
added, however.
But the supervisors counter
ed by taking steps to provide
additional law enforcement
service for the outlying areas.
Although it has not taken
final action, the boarrl pro
poses to employ four con
stables in this capacity, one
each at Tulclake and Mt.
Shasta and two at Happy
Camp.
The constables would be
paid, the board explained,
from funds chopped out of
the sheriff's budget, a maneu
ver which would leave Cot
tar in the same situation as
before.
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