I APPLAUD US District Judge Nancy Gertner ("Judge skips guidelines, releases man in crack case," City & Region, Nov. 21) for sidestepping the sentencing guidelines with respect to the sale of a small amount of cocaine. Such long sentences don't fit the crime.
She spoke clearly to the injustice of the overwhelmingly lengthy sentences being handed out to the black men in our communities.
My son is a victim of the harsh federal sentencing guidelines. Recently sentenced, he is facing 15 years' incarceration with 10 years' probation for selling $750 worth of cocaine to an informant. Like the man Gertner freed, my son was not a drug dealer.
The jails are swelling with many people caught up under the guise of the three-strikes rule. It is my wish that other judges will take a stance similar to Gertner's on a case by case basis, and recognize the far-reaching impact of long-term incarcerations of those who commit these minor offenses. This arrest-and-convict statute is robbing our communities of hard-working, productive individuals who are invaluable to their families.
WILLIAM WEST
Dorchester
JUDGE GERTNER'S decision was a good illustration of how the recently released JFA Institute report on criminal justice policy can be implemented with the best interests of the individual and society upheld ("US prisons full, but crime, cost to taxpayers soar," Page A10, Nov. 20). The report recommended shorter sentences, alternative punishments, and more help for released prisoners. May more judges, criminal justice officials, and political leaders take an honest look at what policies and practices work, and follow Gertner's lead.
NANCY W. AHMADIFAR
Boston
