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| Missouri Judges Use Sentencing Tool |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 10/31/2005 |
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Missouri judges will have new information to help them determine the appropriate sentence for criminals. The Sentencing Advisory Commission helped develop a new system, which will begin in November, which will provide judges with not only people's criminal past but also how likely they are to commit new crimes and what sentences other judges in the state are ordering for people in similar situations. Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Wolff said he hopes the new sentencing reports will direct more people into community programs, rather than to a limited number of state prison beds. The system measures a person's risk of committing another criminal act using statistical models developed by parole officials that consider past crimes but also lifestyle factors such as whether there was drug or alcohol abuse, the level of education and employment history. The new system also provides a Web site that judges, attorneys or anyone else can use to see what a recommended sentence would be for an individual with a certain crime and a particular background. That could prove helpful when prosecutors and defendants are working out plea agreements. It also explains how long someone who is sentenced to prison is likely to spend behind bars before being released on parole. The new guidelines still give judges the final say, but Wolff said the additional information should help them better know what services are available within and beyond state prisons, including from private and religious groups. "This is based on trial court discretion," he said. "If you give judges good information, they will make good decisions." Clay County Circuit Judge Larry Harman said the reports should provide useful information, especially by spelling out community programs a person may benefit from and whether space is available in them, but he questioned whether they would lead to more comparable sentences statewide. "There is merit in the concept of some system of uniformity," he said. "However, I also acknowledge and respect that a community standard for a particular offender may be different in a rural, out-state community" than in the Kansas City or St. Louis area. Still, he said, judges found the old reports valuable, and he hoped the new ones would help them make good decisions. "I want as much information as I can possibly get when I sentence somebody," he said. Stuart Huffman, a defense attorney in Springfield, said the new reports are "a mixed blessing." He said they don't appear to give judges as detailed of information about a person's history, but do offer more explanation of all programs available to help criminals re-enter society, rather than just a particular one that a parole officer might recommend. |
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