More Blake; the Abomination of the Law

Kathy says my posts are too long and boring. I will only say I take my model from GOAB; he went on and on and on, but when I read him, I always stay with him. But then, I'm not GOAB (no one since, readers true, has been GOAB) and I in the reading of an essay, I have been called "Relentless." (Not just in reading an essay, but I fear it is something of a character defect, something like that of our fat English Bulldog, Daisy, who will sit and bark at a dead bug for hours). So this could well have been part of yesterday's post, because I was not yet ready to turn loose of William Blake, but out of a sense of mercy, I have divided it in two or three...or four.

All Penal Laws court Transgression & therefore are cruelty & Murder.

The laws...were what Christ pronounced them, The Abomination that maketh desolate, i.e. State Religion, which is the source of all Cruelty.

Who among us can read those words without thinking of the United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines Manual (affectionately called the Federal Sentencing Guidelines by those of us the trade). Or Kafka's little story, In the Penal Colony. Somehow, to think of it, those two pieces of modern literature seem to whirl and blend together. Do you remember the image in 1984 in which the fingers being held out swirled between two and three (or was it three and four), but the pain caused Winston's mind to blur the image to get the result the interrogator desired? This whirling and blending and swirling from pain comes to me with the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, and if me, how much more my clients who are on the bloody end of the stick.

To be fair, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines are not all bad, if we must regulate society using executions, prison camps, fear, chains, threats and violence as motivators.

For instance, by contrast, sentencing by the State of Texas, allows little predictability that can be offered to a client preparing for trial. The accused may be looking at anywhere between five years probation to life imprisonment, depending on the makeup of the jury. My friend Phillip argues the uncertainty in the state system that he would be more willing to brave the harsh sentences of the guidelines than subject a client to the whim of a jury or judge in state court.

In the State of Texas, there is little certainty to come from a trial. The accused may be looking at anywhere between five years probation to life imprisonment, depending on the makeup of the jury. My friend Phillip Cowen argues the uncertainty there is so great that the predictability that comes with a guideline are worth the generally higher sentences.

Maybe, but the Texas Sentencing is a topic for another day.

Today, I want to entertain and amaze you by simply describing the Federal Sentencing Guidelines with its breathtakingly weird values.

At some point I will brave the subject of how cruel these guidelines can been. For today, I can only face the issue of how odd they are. Also, for those of you who are breathlessly awaiting the day, I want at some point to describe how all of this strangeness was adopted.

(Here's a hint: It was cosponsored by Ted Kennedy and Strom Thurmond. It is as if Dr. Moreau and Dr. Mengele got together to recreate Dr. Frankinstein's manufactured human being. Kennedy wanted the newly created invention to do social work and Thurmond wanted him to be a jailer. Instead, the monster had a mind of his own and has decided to plant colonies all over the country, but particularly in Willacy County.)

Anyway, the good doctors forgot to give the monster a frontal lobe, so the poor creature cannot feel emotions. This, then, is how he responds to your suggestions on how to punish the newly convicted felon.


"This kid is 18 years old, so maybe we should give him a break."

Sorry. The guideline says age (including youth) "is not ordinarily relevant in determining whether a departure is warranted."

"Well, OK, but now I have a Nobel Prize winning cancer researcher with a Phd. Wouldn't it be a shame to see all of that education go to waste?"

Sorry, again. Education is "not ordinarily relevant in determining whether a departure is warranted."

Beginning to see a pattern?

"OK,then, this young woman is suffering severe post-partum depression and psychotic episodes, that should be considered shouldn't it?"

Are you not paying attention? "Mental and emotional conditions are not ordinarily relevant in determining whether a departure is warranted."

"This guy is dying of AIDS and will only be on this earth a few more months."

Well, no, physical condition is "not ordinarily relevant in determining whether a departure is warranted."

"This one has held a steady job for thirty years and is near getting his pension."

No, employment record is "not ordinarily relevant in determining whether a departure is warranted."

"No one raised him, he grew up in the streets all alone after both parents were murdered."

Sorry.

"She is taking care of her five kids and five more from her sisters who have gone into hiding."

No, family ties and responsibilities, are "not ordinarily relevant in determining whether a departure is warranted."

"She's a war hero just back from Iraq."

Nope.

"She is set up a foundation for crippled children."

Naw.

"She has worked full-time as a candy striper since she retired ten years ago."

Sorry, again.

In other words, most everything people (and yes, this includes judges and prosecutors) think is important is ruled out by this being cobbled together by Ted Kennedy and Strom Thurmond.

I understand, readers true, you are not facing federal charges, so who cares. Permit me a couple of hints of the magnitude of this problem. How about this quote:

The number of people behind bars in the "land of the free" is grown as large as the combined populations of Atlanta, Miami, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Kansas City and Pittsburgh.

That's the shocking fact in a Pew Center on the States report showing that one in 100 adults in the U.S. are in prison or jail--more than 2.3 million people. -- For a link to this quote, click on the title.

Blake brings us back to the first issue we should look at. Do we have a right to be punishing people at all?

Jesus was sitting in Moses' Chair;
They Brought the trembling Woman There
Moses commands she be stoned to death;
What was the sound of Jesus' breath?

"Good & Evil are no more!
Sinai's trumpets cease to roar!
Cease, finger of God, to write!
The Heavens are not clean in thy Sight!

Thou art Good & thou Alone,
Nor may the sinner cast one stone."