Legislature Looks at Criminal Sentence Inflation

Apr 15, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Criminal Justice researchers will unveil the results of a study later this week that tracks the increase in penalties over time for drunk driving, illegal drugs and sex crimes. But Utah Sentencing Commission Director Scott Carver says the sentence inflation study shouldn't be a scorecard lawmakers can use this election-year to prove they're "tough on crime."

"The process of keeping score may actually cause this to occur more often," Carver says. "...Left unadvised, you could see some really strange things occur in some of those laws, because getting tough on crime is a common cry of the public and politicians and everyone."

Sentence inflation isn't the same as being tough on crime, Carver says. Scoring lawmakers this way could promote reckless changes to the criminal code, rather than effective research-based legislation, he says. Rather, Carver says the study is a tool lawmakers should use to measure whether they are making appropriate sentencing recommendations. The three types of crimes it tracks tend to excite the public and therefore get more attention by lawmakers. And unchecked sentence inflation could overburden the state's penal system. It's a tricky balancing act, says Cedar City Representative Bud Bowman. The interim law enforcement and criminal justice committee co-chair says lawmakers don't have much tolerance for crime, but denies allegations that lawmakers sponsor crime bills to pander to voters.

"I don't think get votes has much to do with it," Bowman says. "I really don't. I think by and large we do it for the right reasons. Some legislators might have a bill for a pet project, you know. But they still believe what they are doing is right. But I don't know of anybody who has sponsored bill to get votes."

Lawmakers will hear the results of the study during the first meeting of the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee 9 a.m. Wednesday. Twelve other interim committees will meet the same day.

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