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Have we put anywhere near the same attention on the causes and motivations of these crimes? Otherwise you're just selecting for smarter crooks. What's next after mandatory sentencing - rewriting the laws so that guilt is presumed and innocence has to be proven? A points system and we bypass the courts entirely?
I trust judges and juries to exercise a level of prudence that no mandatory sentencing rules will ever be able to address.
Show me the money!!
Without a tax increase included in either of these measures to cover the very real costs of implementing either of these measures, we're just robbing Peter to pay Kevin. Fear of meth crimes should not be responded to by revenge. Instead, mandatory detox and treatment, then monitoring and counseling. Warehousing in prisons that we cannot afford to run let alone build takes resources away from prevention, education, and social services. Since the effect is always hamstringing state and local governments, I cannot help but wonder if this isn't the real intent. "Justice" at the cost of accountability and-or fiscal responsibility is as much of a crime as these measures are purported to deal with. Yet to block the more outrageous of the two, I may still need to vote for Measure 57, the lesser of two evils.

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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