Sentencing reform idea unworkable

For years I looked to The Gazette for thoughtful editorial expressions of libertarian thinking. Even when I disagreed, I typically appreciated the cogency of argument. But lately I've found the editorial page just plain goofy, and the Our View on prison reform, "Prison politics," was a classic example.

I agree that sentencing reform is a topic ripe for discussion in Colorado, but to suggest that Colorado should close several prisons because the state is incarcerating the wrong people, as the editorial did, is a denial of reality and ultimately an oversimplified view of Colorado's criminal justice system.

During my tenure as executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections I paid careful attention to precisely who was incarcerated in our state. Roughly three quarters of those held in Colorado's prisons had either been convicted of a violent offense, had a violent offense on their prior record or had pleaded down from a violent offense.

The remaining inmates, who had not posed a threat to the physical safety of their fellow citizens, averaged three prior felony convictions apiece. Many of them initially had not been sentenced to prison for the crime they were later incarcerated for but, instead, had violated the terms of their probation or community corrections sentence.

Many of the drug offenders alluded to in the editorial have long histories of property crimes and violent offenses.

The editorial seems to suggest nonviolent offenders should never be incarcerated. But what if probation and other non-incarceration sentences don't stop them from burglarizing, thieving and stealing identities? And what about the Bernie Madoffs of the world? Is The Gazette suggesting home (or mansion) detention would be appropriate?

I have made white-collar crime prosecution a priority during my tenure as attorney general. We have prosecuted and convicted numerous white-collar criminals, including Hamilton Alan Bird of Colorado Springs, who stole more than $12 million in an investment scam. A repeat offender, he was sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to two felonies. Imprisoning him for a significant period of time was the correct societal response.

Does The Gazette truly believe that because Bird's crimes were not violent, he should not be imprisoned?

I would hazard a guess that Bird's victims and the victims of other white collar criminals would disagree with that position.

If citizens are concerned about the sentencing practices leading to our growing prison population, I encourage them to take a Friday morning or Friday afternoon and sit through a sentencing docket in the El Paso County District Court. I am convinced most citizens will be more concerned about who's not going to prison than who is, in fact, being sentenced to prison.

We should carefully examine minimum mandatory sentencing, habitual criminal sentencing, drug sentencing and a variety of other issues to determine if changes should be made. I will propose some sentence reductions that I think are appropriate. But we should never suggest that government abandon its core purpose of public safety in favor of other competing priorities. And we certainly should not be fooled into thinking nonviolent crimes do not have a significant impact on the health and welfare of our citizens.

If Colorado carefully examines possible sentencing reform and makes thoughtful changes, I believe we can significantly slow the growth of the prison population.

But the idea that we simply close several prisons cannot be achieved without significant detriment to public safety.

I look forward to working with state leaders, including Sen. John Morse and Gov. Bill Ritter, over the next year to accomplish the important goal of achieving public safety as economically and efficiently as possible.

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Suthers, of Colorado Springs, is Colorado's attorney general and a former district attorney for the Fourth Judicial District.