This book is going on my Goodreads list immediately. Your review is a great reminder that sentencing mitigation is about the small things sometimes. The stories, anecdotes, and relationships that show the human being behind the crime. Every defendant -- every person -- is so much more more than the worst thing that they've ever done.
Thank you for your thoughtful review. I’ve always felt like our use of the word deserving is harsh and unfair. I look forward to reading the book. Your comments about what we as criminal defense attorneys need to do better, spend more time and attention with our clients, is so true. This is hard work. Spending the time with our clients can be difficult and painful, and then when we do develop the necessary connection it exposes us to heartbreak. But it needs to be done. We can do better. I can do better. Thanks again for your insight.
Continued….I know my sample is random and small but I believe at least 50% of currently incarcerated could be home with family rebuilding their lives. Sadly,there is little support for that from the public and definitely none from the courts or judicial system.
Other factors not relevant drive the decisions.
Thank you so much for your insight and your article. It resonated with me so very much. I have struggled with this for years.
Thank you so much Katie for this important article.
For several years now I have been supporting inmates in the federal system. I have learned their stories and heard their voices, and every thing you said is absolutely true. It has been a real struggle for me to see such little compassion from the public and no compassion from the system. The majority of inmates I have known had little or no control over the events (often in childhood) that led to their crimes.
Oversentencing is common and when reforms are made they are not retroactive (money issue and availability of judges)
There is no compassion in the federal system so Compassionate Release almost never happens except when the inmate is weeks away from death.
Sadly money dictates most decisions in the BOP.
It often seems the public has a black and white perspective on crime and aren’t even interested in the human stories.
It’s not just the inmates affected- entire families are shattered beyond repair.
This book is going on my Goodreads list immediately. Your review is a great reminder that sentencing mitigation is about the small things sometimes. The stories, anecdotes, and relationships that show the human being behind the crime. Every defendant -- every person -- is so much more more than the worst thing that they've ever done.
Thank you for your thoughtful review. I’ve always felt like our use of the word deserving is harsh and unfair. I look forward to reading the book. Your comments about what we as criminal defense attorneys need to do better, spend more time and attention with our clients, is so true. This is hard work. Spending the time with our clients can be difficult and painful, and then when we do develop the necessary connection it exposes us to heartbreak. But it needs to be done. We can do better. I can do better. Thanks again for your insight.
Continued….I know my sample is random and small but I believe at least 50% of currently incarcerated could be home with family rebuilding their lives. Sadly,there is little support for that from the public and definitely none from the courts or judicial system.
Other factors not relevant drive the decisions.
Thank you so much for your insight and your article. It resonated with me so very much. I have struggled with this for years.
Thank you so much Katie for this important article.
For several years now I have been supporting inmates in the federal system. I have learned their stories and heard their voices, and every thing you said is absolutely true. It has been a real struggle for me to see such little compassion from the public and no compassion from the system. The majority of inmates I have known had little or no control over the events (often in childhood) that led to their crimes.
Oversentencing is common and when reforms are made they are not retroactive (money issue and availability of judges)
There is no compassion in the federal system so Compassionate Release almost never happens except when the inmate is weeks away from death.
Sadly money dictates most decisions in the BOP.
It often seems the public has a black and white perspective on crime and aren’t even interested in the human stories.
It’s not just the inmates affected- entire families are shattered beyond repair.