Re: Aug. 13 editorial.
The Postap editorial was insightful and on point. Assuring appropriate punishment and community safety after a rape conviction is a real problem, and its solution does not lie in vilifying judges whose sentencing options are trapped in a broken infrastructure.
The narrow limit of Colorado’s sentencing laws does not allow a judge to send a convicted rapist to prison for a finite term. Had Judge Patrick Butler sentenced Austin James Wilkerson to prison, it would have been for an indeterminate term up to the rest of his life.
Those who are outraged by the apparent leniency of such sentences should look to the Colorado legislature for the solution. State law could be modified to allow finite terms in prison for offenders like Wilkerson, or to permit release after reasonable terms for inmates who wait years for treatment that isn’t available. To be effective, funding should be given for treatment in prison.
Darren Cantor, Denver
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