Criminal Justice Reform

Criminal Justice Reform. You’ve heard about it. You’ve probably seen it on a lot of platforms of candidates for Congress or other federal offices, or state legislatures, or other state offices. Is it necessary? If so, what kind of reform is necessary?

Here’s a story which to my mind strongly suggests that reform is absolutely necessary. At the same time, it doesn’t make it totally clear what kind of reform is in fact necessary – real life, actual facts, are more complicated than any one story.

I always like to point out that when we are speaking of criminal justice in the United States, we are not speaking of one system. In fact, we start with 57 systems, more or less – counting the Federal system and those in the states and territories. Looking at county and municipal levels makes it even more complicated. All these separate systems have many similarities, of course, but there are also striking differences. And then there is the problem of actually administering the laws fairly within each system.

The system within which this particular story unfolds is in fact the Federal system – the Department of Justice and the Federal courts.

[Matthew] Charles originally was sentenced to 35 years in prison for selling crack cocaine and procuring guns under an assumed name. In 2010, a federal judge shortened Charles’s sentence after Congress and the U.S. Sentencing Commission agreed to reduce penalties for crack cocaine.

The judge, it turns out, made a mistake. Because Charles qualified as a “career criminal” under federal law, he was not eligible for a sentence reduction. A federal appeals court agreed with the Justice Department and directed a new judge to re-impose Charles’s original sentence.

The new judge was not pleased with having the case dumped onto her. She noted that Charles had started rehabilitating himself from day one of his original sentence – taking courses, getting his GED, then taking college courses and becoming a law clerk. Then he tiurned his education to helping other prisoners – reading to some (and keeping the secret of their illiteracy), providing legal help to others. He did not receive one disciplinary infraction in 20 years. After release, Charles didn’t rest on these accomplishments, but continued to build a life: he sought our family, got a job, bwoght a car, found a church, and volunteered regularly. He also began a serious romantic relationship. If we really meant what we say about the point of prison and other penalties being rehabilitation – we should be taking lessons from him, not locking him back up.

Hands tied by the mandate to restore Charles’s full sentence, Judge Aleta Trauger asked prosecutors to review the case one more time. That’s an extraordinary measure that told prosecutors the judge believed they should have dropped their technicality-driven persecution. They refused. After acknowledging the injustice, Judge Trauger gave Charles 45 days to prepare to serve the rest of his sentence.

And that’s how it stands now. There is a petition to Mr. Trump to commute the remainder of his sentence, and I+ have signed it – I sign petitions I’m in favor of even when I’m not very hopeful, and I’m not on this one. You see, the action by Congress and the U.S. Sentencing Commission happened on Obama’s watch. The current resident is making a career out of destroying every good thing that President Obama ever accomplished … and commuting this sentence would not be consistent with that career.

I am, of course, aware that mistakes in the justice system work both ways … that there are people walking around (and some of them have guns) who really should not be – and also that the difference between a mistake in one direction and a mistake in the other often comes down to the amount of melanin carried by the defendant. But, should the subject of criminal justice reform come up in conversation with friends or family … you can share this story as an example of why such reform is needed. (And, perhaps, an example of why we will not get solid reform until and unless the topic can be addressed by people of good will.)

Cross posted to Care2 HERE