The PEW Charitable Trust reported this week that one in every 100 Americans is incarcerated. That is upsetting. It makes me wonder how many people we can afford to incarcerate under our present punitive laws.
It would seem that we need to take a hard, long look at our criminal justice system. Reform is long overdue. Id like to sing the praises of the King County Prosecuting Attorney for his efforts to remedy the possible injustices to people sentenced to life under the Three-Strikes law. Other prosecutors in other counties should do the same.
I look forward to the day when mandatory minimum sentences become history and crimes are punished in accordance to their severity. Laws that mandate fixed and lengthy prison sentences for non-violent people should be repealed or at least amended. We all suffer when we continue to pour more and more money into confining an ever increasing number of people in prison for longer and longer sentences.
Lea Zengage
Lake Stevens