JUSTICE

By Steven Hoffer

Steven Hoffer understands that a punishment must fit the crime. Put another way, to serve the ends of justice a sentence must be proportional. Neither criminal nor civil sanctions should be excessive.

Why did Mr. Graham's court in Marin sentence a man named Mr. Powell to 29 years to LIFE under the three strikes law for failure to appear for a narcotics offense that reportedly would carry only a 4 year sentence? Was this in line with rulings by other counties?

An article entitled "A tale of two strikes cases", in the Recorder (Jan. 21, 1997), finds that Mr. Graham's hard-liner position on three-strikes cases, "is a little surprising considering the liberal bent of Marin County voters and the moderate stance that prosecutors in neighboring counties such as San Francisco and Alameda have taken".

That article explains:

"As in the Smith case, jurors needed less than an hour to reach a decision, but this time it was a conviction. Judge John Stephen Graham sentenced Powell to 29 years to life, including four years for the drug sentencing that he missed."

[The defense attorney for Mr. Powell said], "It's a travesty that the law can come down so hard for conduct that's so minimally harmful to society." (Mr. Powell's two prior offenses were burglary and robbery).

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Apart from the sentence for the drug offense, Mr. Powell's FAILURE-to-APPEAR brought a sentence of 25 YEARS to LIFE, with a minimum of twenty years. The outcome has been widely criticized as unusual if not cruel.

Notably, a judge may strike prior convictions in the furtherence of justice with proper reason. Here, Mr. Powell had offered evidence that he failed to appear because certain gang members had been shooting at him after he testified against a gang member in another case, and he would be a sitting duck. Mr. Graham excluded some evidence, noting that Mr. Powell had failed to take measures that would have permitted him to appear safely.

Are you confident that Mr. Graham, a career politician who relies heavily upon endorsements of law enforcement officials, will respect your own privacy and due process rights, and reach just decisions with true impartiality? Is Mr. Graham just?