If Diana Ross can come to this state, be arrested for extreme DUI and not even be required to make an appearance in court on her own behalf, then your Mandatory Sentencing is SHIT!!!(Below is the cleaned up version that may be going to the paper. Im rather partial to the original myself, but I was advised that it might be wise to clean it up some. Pfft! Whatever.)
Driving while under the influence is bad. I understand that. I agree with it wholeheartedly and I accept that we need stiffer punishment for those that endanger and sometimes take away the lives of innocents. But creating an across the board punishment requiring minimum prison terms while pedophiles, rapists and sometimes murderers roam free not only eats away at my tax paying dollars in a manner that doesn’t please me, IT IRRITATES ME TO NO END!!! Where is the balance in this, I ask you? When did someone making a poor choice after a party that doesn’t result in bodily injury to ANYONE become worse than the guy down the street that willfully molested 17 kids?
I got to see my baby Brother standing up for the first time in more than a month on Wednesday morning. Standing before a judge awaiting sentencing. In the past month, the only way I could see him was from across the table he was shackled to. My Brother is not a criminal. On the contrary, he is one of the best people I will probably ever know. He made a mistake, I understand that, But people such as my Brother, people without criminal records, with a history of service to their community that make mistakes should not be treated as such. Hardened jail time does nothing but ruin lives in those that deserve a second chance. What about rehabilitation? Sex offenders can’t be rehabilitated. People that make the mistake of getting behind the wheel after a few drinks, sometimes CAN.
Ah, the great state of Arizona.
You can carry a loaded weapon and shoot at your girlfriend and your kids without consequence, but you cant get behind the wheel after a few drinks without giving up thousands of dollars and quite possibly years of your life.
The scales just seem to be tipped a little in the wrong direction if you ask me.
I am not saying that drunk driving should go without punishment, but that it should definitely be taken on a case-by-case basis. Other options besides just hardened prison terms should be available. I don’t feel that my Brother shouldn’t suffer consequences for the mistake that he made, truth be told, I know he should. But telling me that my Brother is to serve out a prison term for a mistake that harmed no one while I hit nothing but walls and snide remarks for trying to prosecute rape, assault and possible attempted murder charges is something I just cant wrap my mind around. Where is Mothers Against Rape and Molestation? Where is Students Against Violent Attack? Where are the people to lobby for the justices of those that cannot fight for themselves? I am sorry that anyone has ever had to lose a loved one to a drunk driving fatality. My heart sincerely goes out to them. But everything about this is WRONG. First time offenders of a crime in which no one was harmed either physically or monetarily should not be lumped in with habitual criminals and predators and put into the penal system. It just isn’t right. It solves nothing and it can ruin lives too. I want my money going towards the wastes that harm kids, murder, rape, assault and willfully and consciously prey upon the public. I understand the concept of ‘zero tolerance’ I am for zero tolerance on most things. What I am not for is across-the-board, mandatory, indiscriminate punishment for crimes of varying degree. It is an injustice. Zero tolerance isn’t supposed to mean mandatory sentencing. Arizona has one of the harshest mandatory-minimum sentencing penal codes in the nation. I get it. I understand that there is a lot that could POSSIBLY happen when someone willfully gets behind the wheel after drinking. However, sentencing should never be based on the “what ifs” of a situation but rather the circumstances involved. Consequences should always be handed out for what DID happened, not what COULD have happened, taking into account all relevant facts.
I spent hours constructing a letter to the judge on behalf of my Brother. A letter I was never allowed to read. It broke my heart to know that if nothing else, my Brother never got to hear me speak the words I wrote on his behalf. That the Judge would never know my bother as anything other than a number assigned to him by the Department of Corrections and a drunk driving charge.
I have been asked if I would be voicing my thoughts on this as loudly were it someone other than my brother in his position. I don’t know, I cant honestly say. Perhaps I wouldn’t be sending in this letter to the editor if were it the schmuck next door in my Brother’s prison shoes. But I am INVOLVED in this case, and therefore I have a soapbox in the matter. It doesn’t mean that my feelings would be any less. My frustration in this situation is because I truly and honestly believe that mandatory sentencing is a disservice to the public. It is that frustration fueling my voice in this matter, but it is my brother that ties my heart to it and causes me to scream. There is something very special about my baby Brother, and I fear it dying while he is away.
Below are the words that no one would allow me to read. Perhaps now, someone will hear them.
Good Morning Your Honor,
My name is ***************, I am ***************** older sister and it is my understanding that we are here today for sentencing on his charges of Driving Under the Influence. If it pleases Your Honor and this court, I would like to read a statement I prepared on behalf of my Brother. I understand the severity of his mistake and I know the consequences and by no means wish to imply that I feel he is above serving punishment for the mistake he has made. However, I do feel that before you make any final decisions, you should know a bit more about my Brother, his character and the person that I know him to be. ****** has never been one to follow the pack. He has always made his own way and did what he needed to for himself. At the age of 8 he told me that he wanted to join the Air Force. He committed to that goal and every other that he has had and made them happen, even when everything was stacked against him. While in the Air Force, ****** received many accolades and awards for his achievements. He served over seas during war-time and was given promotions quickly. He gets great joy from making a difference in the lives of others. He has volunteered services to people with disabilities confined to wheelchairs, helping to make their vehicles and homes more accessible. He came to stay with me for a few months when I was in need and in that time helped the elderly people in the neighborhood with yard work and upkeep. He spent most of the day this past Christmas setting up a swing-set and trampoline for the little girl across the street. He carries the biggest heart I have ever seen a man carry and there isn’t anything that I can think of that he wouldn’t do to help out someone in need. He is trustworthy and honest. He knows what he did. He is well aware of the mistake he made and the danger he put himself and others in. I know this because he sat me down and told me. He poured out his heart, speaking of the guilt and shame he felt for the poor decisions he had made. That night he made a promise to himself to stop drinking and get to what it is inside him that allowed him to do something so out of character for him. He attended AA meetings, read, went to church and talked openly to those that would listen and could help. And as with everything else he has committed to in his life, he did just that. He stopped drinking. He has been sober since before Christmas. My Brother is a stand up guy, he has always admitted his truths and accepted consequences accordingly, I suppose that is how he succeeded in the military and won the respect of so many of his fellow soldiers. But this is a point in his life where he needs help. Help in the way of support and rehabilitation, not hardened jail time. By sentencing him to more time in jail you are hindering his ability to rely on the foundation and support system he has created for himself that has proved to be successful. He may have made a dire mistake, but my Brother is not a criminal. He is merely a man that has shamed himself by the mistake he made and wishes to make amends by becoming a better person. I do not know of the options the court has at its disposal, but I know that jail time cannot be the only one. If there could be some way that he may reside in a halfway house with a structured and rehabilitative environment I feel confident that my Brother will continue to grow and get back to the person he is and the path he had mapped out for himself so long ago. He has a dream of returning to the military and finishing out his career there, doing what he loves and knows so well. He was good at that. I know that with the opportunity Your Honor can offer him by way of a bigger support system and a chance to continue his rehabilitation he will achieve that dream once more and any others he discovers along the way. Please don’t deny my Brother the chance to be who he really is and succeed in life again.
Thank you, Your Honor, for allowing me the chance to introduce you to my Brother and the wonderful person that he is.
Sincerely grateful,
******************
