Injustice in Iowa and a Call for Federal Sentence Caps
It shouldn’t take a Chicago paper to report on an injustice in Iowa but here you go.
In Iowa apparently to borrow the title. Self-defense is, inexplicably, no defense
Thing like this are reasons mandatory minimums are a bad idea. The sentence needs to fit the circumstances of the crime.
In this case, if the story is accurate there was no crime committed anyway, so there should be no consequences.
Even if there was excessive force involved, five years is far too much for a simple knock out punch.
Thats more than you would get for accidentally killing someone in many areas.
I’d like to see federal sentence caps to prevent cruel and unusual punishment like this. Setting the caps is simple, find the lowest term and set it there.
This would correct many problems including the next Genarlow Wilson the Crack/Powdered Cocaine disparity and host of others.
The key to a better justice system is not fear based mandatory minimums but sentence caps. As counter intuitive as it seems, limiting exposure to the justice system and providing counseling and resources reduces recidivism. Its also more humaneand cheaper in the long run.
And before you claim mass imprisonment helps reduce crime, sorry. It was probably some combination of lead reduction and legalized abortion that did most of it.
All mass imprisonment did is turn America into a giant jail.
Anyway I hope whoever runs against Chet Culver reminds him of this injustice every time he sets foot anywhere and if he beats him pardons this guy, pronto.