Background of interest and activity in Central Ky

August 7, 2005

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Sentencing
C/o Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert and
Lieutenant Governor Stephen B. Pence
700 Capitol Avenue
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601

Dear Commissioners:

This letter comes to you from the Board of Directors of The Interfaith Alliance of the Bluegrass concerning the important opportunity currently before the Commission and the Commonwealth to revise Kentucky’s criminal sentencing guidelines. The Interfaith Alliance recently hosted two community forums during which the Commonwealth’s sentencing guidelines were much on the minds of those present. We heard from persons involved with this issue, including the results of research by University of Kentucky Law professor Robert Lawson. From these forums we learned that the Commonwealth’s current sentencing structure is not only unhelpful to the possible rehabilitation of persons convicted of crimes in our state, but has also sparked a growth in Kentucky’s prison population that will become increasingly burdensome, if not impossible, to maintain in the near future.

Certainly it is the responsibility of the Commonwealth to do everything within its legitimate power to ensure the safety of its citizens, the enforcement of its laws, and the carrying out of sentences duly imposed upon those convicted of crimes against property or person. Yet, these appropriate responsibilities must be pursued with an eye toward the value of all human life, the possibility of rehabilitation, and the root causes of crime. Slogans such as, “Get Tough on Crime,” and sentencing resulting from them, while superficially responding to society’s fear of crime, often do not lead to a more secure society. Instead, as in the case of Kentucky’s experience, they lead only to exploding prison populations that divert limited resources from the root causes of crime, such as entrenched poverty, inadequate education, and limited opportunity.

As a part of the interfaith community of Central Kentucky we urge you to seize this opportunity to change Kentucky’s criminal justice course from one of unreflective punishment, which in the end is not helpful to society, to a better course of reasonable and responsible sentencing. Reasonable and responsible sentencing will hold criminals accountable for their actions, keep open the possibility of rehabilitation, and not threaten to bankrupt our criminal justice system. In the long term, such a course change offers the greatest possibility for the security and prosperity of the Commonwealth and its citizens.

We look forward to following your work, and we offer our resources toward the adoption of sentencing guidelines that will benefit all Kentuckians.

Respectfully,

William B. Kincaid, President
The Interfaith Alliance of the Bluegrass

Endorsed by the Board of The Interfaith Alliance on July 20, 2005.