LET'S RE-EXAMINE MANDATORY MINIMUM TERMS

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy Is Raising A Valid Argument On A
Sensitive Subject - Overly Long, Overly Harsh Prison Terms

Perhaps only a lifer like Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy could
afford to say what he recently said: We're putting criminals away for
too long.

"Our resources are misspent, our punishments too severe, our sentences
too long," Kennedy said this month at the annual meeting of the
American Bar Association. "In too many cases, mandatory minimum
sentences are unwise or unjust."

Kennedy, who doesn't have to worry about re-election, raises a
legitimate issue when he questions whether the 15-year-old federal
sentencing guidelines need to be revised downward and minimum
mandatory sentences repealed.

We're pleased that in response to Kennedy's remarks, ABA President
Dennis Archer said the world's largest legal organization will review
whether federal sentencing guidelines should be reduced.

Also, the ABA will review why more than 40 percent of the U.S. prison
population is made up of "people of color." And it will look at how
the pardon process is working - or perhaps not working.

Just this week the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics
released a report that indicates that as of 2001, 5.6 million
Americans are or have been incarcerated in prison. That's 2.7 percent
of the population, or about 1 in every 37 people.

The study estimates that by 2010, 3.4 percent of the total population
will have "prison experience."

The numbers are especially pronounced for black and Hispanic
men.

According to the justice study, if this trend continues, nearly
one-third of all black men born in 2001 will be imprisoned at some
time in their lives.

Surely those statistics bear some level of thoughtful
review.

Before dismissing Kennedy's comments as bleeding-heart blather, it's
important to remember he is a moderate conservative who was appointed
by President Reagan. And while on the bench of the High Court his
record has remained in the conservative camp.

To say that judges should have more latitude in sentencing is not to
say that we might as well unlock the prisons and send every felon back
to the street. We certainly don't believe that.

Frankly, there are people who should spend long terms, sometimes the
balance of their days on Earth, locked away from the rest of the world.

We've seen them in the courts, right here in Northeastern
Wisconsin.

But we think Kennedy and the ABA have raised issues that are worth
considering.

And we're in agreement with another statement that came from Kennedy: "A
people confident in its laws and institutions should not be ashamed of
mercy."