The Montgomery Advertiser
January 26, 2006

The sentencing reform measures that passed the House this week and are now before the Senate are part of the long-term solution to prison overcrowding in Alabama. Over time, as sentencing practices are adjusted to reflect realistic degrees of penalty, Alabama can establish a system that better protects the public safety and the public treasury.

In addition --and this is hugely important -- greater fairness can be brought to the system by the creation of sentencing guidelines that help judges give similar sentences for similar offenses, regardless of where the crime was committed or the case was heard.

"Hopefully, a crime committed in the southeast corner of the state will be punished similarly to a crime committed in the northeast corner of the state," the bills' sponsor, Rep. Marcel Black, D-Tuscumbia, told the Associated Press.

That is a most desirable goal. A crime is no more or less serious because it occurred in Montgomery instead of Madison, or Fort Payne instead of Demopolis. Similar offenses warrant similar sentences. Otherwise, the perception, if not the reality, of bias or judicial whim taints the court system.

The bills stem from the valuable work of the Alabama Sentencing Commission, established several years ago to review the structure under which offenders are sentenced in Alabama. The sentencing guidelines that resulted represent a review of 26 felony offenses that account for 87 percent of all felony convictions in Alabama.

The guidelines are voluntary, but they do present judges with a set of sensible options for sentencing that, if followed, should vastly improve the process.

Because the guidelines would apply to felony cases sentenced after the effective date of the legislation -- Oct. 1 of this year -- there is no short-term benefit for the prison overcrowding problem. But the potential for long-term benefit is undeniable, and the potential for greater fairness in the system is just as clear.

The Senate should follow the House's action and promptly pass these overdue reform measures.

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