I appreciate this opportunity to respond to your comment. Obviously, as a long-term prisoner I cannot speak with authority as to why such disparities exist between sentences white collar offenders receive with the sentences nonviolent drug offenders receive. The United States Sentencing Commission recently released a repost that shows how the criminal justice system has grown. Nonviolent drug offenders, of course, constitute the crimes for which most offenders serve time. The irony, to me, is that those who ran Ponzi schemes that make real victims by misappropriating millions receive much shorter sentences.

Either way, it is my position that our country ought not rely on long-term imprisonment as the only option available. Even the sentencing commission holds that, when appropriate, judges ought to impose community-based sanctions. Society should reserve imprisonment for those who truly must be isolated to protect citizens. In some cases, white-collar offenders, drug offenders, and other nonviolent offenders should suffer such a sanction. In all cases, however, corrections should offer a mechanism that encourages offenders to reconcile with society through merit. When appropriate, offenders ought to earn their way into community-based sanctions.

I believe we need reforms that will improve America’s prison system. That means we should expect prisons to do more than warehouse. They ought to prepare people to function as law-abiding citizens. I feel convinced that by employing the concept of earning freedom, which I first read about in Justice Burger’s speech, Factories with Fences, makes far better sense for America.

Incidentally, with regard to your comment on racism within the justice system, I think the statistics put out by the Pew Report make a convincing case that it plagues our system. That is my perspective as an American of Cuban descent. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,
Michael

In the article “Compare Sentences for White Collar Crime With Nonviolent Drug Offenders,” you point out how nonviolent drug offenders are given higher sentences than those who are born with money and still commit serious crimes to become richer than what they already are. I personally believe that there should be equality between the rich and poor because we are all human beings; therefore, all level offenders should be treated equally without any exceptions. Noviolent offenders commit crimes to feed their families and meet their survival needs; however, white collar crime offenders commit crimes for pleasure, and because they are ambitious people. Mr. Santos i want to thank you for taking your time in writing these interesting articles, and giving responses to all us. I really enjoy reading your novel. Here are some questions i would like you to answer:
1. How can we reform sentencing laws and prison policies that incarcerate so many individuals in prison?
2. What can be done to prevent long term sentences for nonviolent drug offenders?
3. What can we as human beings do to avoid disparity in sentencing laws to promote equality between the rich and the poor?
Once again, Thank you so much for sharing your life with us…

Mr.Santos:
In your article entitle “One Response to “Compare Sentences for White Collar Crime With Nonviolent Drug Offenders” you indicate that there are sentencing disparaties when it comes to sentencing those who commit white collar crimes comapared to those nonviolent drug offenses. I totally agree with you, those who usually sale drugs do it to help support their families as those who commit white collar crimes do it to get richer. I have an uncle who is incarcerated right there in taft in the camp section next to the gated facility. When he got sentenced i noticed how those sentencing disparities do exist. My questions to you are why do you believe these disparites exist, is it because there is still some sort of racial profiling when it comes to sentencing those who are minorities? Also do you believe the prison system does any good by incarcerating those with drug offenses for long period of times when in most cases many get deproted?
Thanks for your time and input maybe ill run into you sometime when i go visit my uncle…
sincerely
M.Magana

I am a student at Cal State University Long Beach. I have a lot of comments and questions that pertain to this post: What do you believe is the most effective form of deterrence for people that perform white-collar crimes? I believe that the punishments for white-collar crimes are so light that people see it as a little consequence for the millions of dollars that they could possibly get away with. Another question is that do you believe that since these people are educated and well informed that they should be held at a higher standard and be given harsher punishments compared to street level criminals selling drugs trying to make ends meat? Is there certain treatment you believe that these white-collar criminals get in prison that is different than those of street level crimes? Do you believe incarceration is an effective form of rehabilitation to prevent these criminals from repeating these offenses? Thank you for your input and time.

Sincerely,
Ralph Villejo