In 1970 the US had roughly 330,000 prisoners. Today we have over 2.1 million. We have the largest prison population on the planet and are adding prisoners at the fastest rate as well. I think it's safe to say that minimum sentences and sentence guidelines aren't working so hot.

Tucked into that measure was a provision sponsored by Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla., intended to make it more difficult for federal judges to depart from federal sentencing guidelines and making it easier to appeal light sentences.

Hrmmm, I wonder if they'll take this into consideration the next tim Noelle Bush goes before a judge on drug charges.

3Horn

Very good 3horn! A cookie for you.

I'd like to biatch-slap the farker who specified the "hero" tag.

I would bet this is part of his initiative regarding persuing the death penalty more- in the past it was handled by local DOJ people but they are trying to centralize those decision in DC. The rationale being that one of the arguments against the death penalty is regional disparities in punishment for similar crimes.
I would guess that this is also part of that attempt to eliminate/diminish regional differences in sentencing.

I like the theory of this- a federal crime should net you similar punishment anywhere in the country. However, men like Ashcroft scare me with their demagoguery and implied threats.

Marge: And that's the drunk tank --

Barney: [groaning] Oh --

Marge: -- and this is Mommy's desk.

Lisa: Mom, I know your intentions are good, but aren't the police the protective force that maintains the status quo for the wealthy elite? Don't you think we ought to attack the roots of social problems instead of jamming people into overcrowded prisons?

Marge: [pauses] Look Lisa, it's McGriff, the Crime Dog! [uses a hand puppet] Hey, Lisa, help me bite crime, ruff, ruff!

Sentencing guidelines are now more than the "guidelines" they were intended to be. Similarly, "Guiding Light" no longer as entertaining now that Amanda Spalding has aged.

That's right, the prosecutor should decide what sentence the low life scum of a defendant gets. What could possibly go wrong in such an instance?

It's the '50s all over again.

That enemies list will come in handy when Rove and Cheney decide to suspend the Constitution.

"Are you now, or have you ever been..."

The immorality and hypocrisy will continue until the drug war is ended, all substances decriminalized, and an individuals right to their own body reinstated.

Ashcroft=Asscroft. That is all.

hey Ashcroft-suck my diggity-dick

I'm sure Ashcroft is upset that Ken Lay got off so easy.

It's only because the brown shirt sets off his eyes.

TheOmni,

YOu are so on...

Asinine tag! Someone smack the poster upside the lead with a 2x4, please....

Like the Hitlet pic, Cranialsodomy. Very appropriate.

never before has the "hero" tag been so abused.

The poster must have meant that sarcastically. Let's hope.

I hate that guy, please sir just die

/1930's here we come

Props to the use of "HERO" tag to start a flame war. You, sir, are a troll to be proud of.

Any usage of the Hero tag and Ashcroft together should cause an automatic computer crash for the poster.

A complete deletion of the hard drive if they link Fox News with it.

What they're really not tellin' ya...

Ashcroft wants a list of judges he thinks are liberal based on their sentences so he can replace them.

You mean Ashcroft has finished his war on bongs?

Next on Ashcroft's "to do" list: a federal 1 strike and you're out law.

/still learning about HTML

What's the point of having judges if all we're going to do is look at some farking guide to decide sentencing? The judicial system is supposed to be independent from the legislative branch, not a complete slave to its kneejerk populism and irrationality.

Even Justice Rehnquist thinks Ashcroft is wrong about this. When Justice Rehnquist thinks you have drifted too far to the right, that truly says something. It would be like Michael Moore criticizing someone for being too liberal.

Godwin's law? Already?

We need a "villian" tag for Ashcroft and Bush.

is it ironic that the hero tag ws used?

I'm against any legal system where two people who commit the same crime under the same ciurcumstances can get two drastically different sentences based on their judge. Judicial independence is one thing, tweaking the entire judical system based on whether or not you had enough bran that morning is another.

That said, John Ashcroft is a self-righteous neo-nazi crypto-fascist asshole and I hope that he gets hit by a bus next time he crosses the street.

I think the thing that pissed me off the most recently was that blatant anti-democrat ad that was showing on the side of the page.

It's strange, but I think a lot of FARKers are Righties.

LOL---> haplo53 Too True

The author of this headline is a farking partisan idiot.

Fark Ashcroft, he's nothing but an extremist political appointee that lost an election to a dead guy!

HERO MY ASS!

Ashcroft ought to be hung for treason, if you ask me.

Violent crime I have no problem with stiff sentencing, but anything that puts more teeth in the War on Drugs is just plain evil.

Just seeing this make it to the front page is sickening.

I'd have been considered conservative before the Bush administration, but now I'm apparently a hippie because I haven't moved farther to the right. You know what? Ashcroft can suck it. He's actually so disliked, he lost an election to a dead guy.

Whatever you think of Ass-croft ( and victimless crimes aside ) this still deserves a HERO tag.

How many times do you read a newspaper where someone is killed by an armed robber who had a string of convictions only to be let out - time after time - to repeat offend?

By all means stop jailing ppl for minor drug offenses, shoplifting etc. But violent crimes should get BIG jail time. Not pathetic 3 and 5 years terms.

Careful what you say, Ashcroft probably has someone monitoring this thread!

The federal guidelines were set up so that judges would be uniform in sentencing. On the face of it, I see nothing wrong with tracking the stats of judges. It's done all the time at the state level. Washington state has a similar sentencing law, and I know that the stats are collected on who does what. So is it the fact that it's Ashcroft doing the request here that makes the pissypants liberals mad, or the fact that someone wanted to keep stats on how effective a federal mandate (sentencing guidelines) is and if it is being followed?

Well if it helps against judges like this than maybe it ain't all terrible.

I don't think Godwin's law applies here, because Ashcroft no one doubts that Ashcroft is a Nazi.

pontechango- Exactly!

Mr_Morden- Sure, but until this guy quits advocating putting people away for life for having a couple ounces of pot to share with some buddies, he's no hero.