Re: “,” Nov. 18 editorial.
Your editorial in support of reforming Colorado’s habitual offender law was spot-on.Mandatory minimum sentencing laws routinely force judges to impose prison terms that are much longer than necessary to do justice. Moreover, these laws carry high costs for taxpayers, costs that almost always outweigh any public safety benefits.
I write to add two other considerations. First, we should be mindful of the human cost of incarceration. Victims’ needs should be a top priority, but we should not ignore the emotional and financial damage inflicted on innocent family members when a loved one is incarcerated. Being mindful of their well-being does not mean we should be unduly lenient, but it should caution us against being overly punitive.
Second, we should recognize that in a world of limited government resources, every policy choice involves a tradeoff. Prison is expensive. Keeping a low-level offender behind bars longer than necessary means law enforcement will have fewer resources available to target murderers, rapists and serious violent offenders. Is that a trade Coloradans really want to make?
𱹾龱Բ,Washington, D.C.
The writer is president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums.
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