HIGH COURT JUSTICE FAVORS REVAMPING PRISON SYSTEM

SAN FRANCISCO - Supreme court justice Anthony M. Kennedy said Saturday that
prison terms are too long and that he favors scraping the practice of
setting mandatory minimum sentences for some federal crimes.

"Our resources are misspent, our punishments too severe, our sentences too
long," Kennedy said in remarks prepared for delivery to the annual meeting
of the American Bar Association.

Kennedy is a moderate conservative placed on the court by former President
Ronald Reagan, his criticism puts him at odds with Attorney General John
Ashcroft, who wants prosecutors to closely monitor which judges impose more
lenient sentences than federal guidelines recommended. Such oversight,
critics say, could limit judicial independence.

Kennedy said he agrees the need for federal sentencing guidelines. The
15-year-old system gives judges a range of possible punishments for most
crimes and eliminates some of the disparities in terms imposed by different
judges for the same crime.