"The Sentencing Commission acted one day after the Supreme Court ruled that federal judges have discretion to hand down more lenient sentences for crack cocaine defendants than those recommended by federal sentencing guidelines."

The rest of the article can be read here . Now, here’s where I have a problem with the Machine. Who gets to be a criminal’s judge and jury? I’ve been taught that one who finds themselves on the wrong side of the law facing sentencing for their crime, is afforded the benefit of being judged in the perpetrator’s district and by a jury of their peers. In other words, by those who live in the community in which the criminal lives, judged by the community’s moral standard and residents, not by a distant entity of the Machine.

One of the problems we’re having in our society is a large segment of our people are addicts, not “criminals”; and these addictions can be to drugs, cigarettes, gambling, sex, umm, shoes, or whatever. Our prison system, fast becoming a cottage industry, has become recycling centers. The underlying problem is never addressed or corrected. Thus, an addict labeled as “criminal” is high-falutin’ poppycock. It guarantees recidivism for the untreated addict. Personally, I think people who “break laws” for certain behaviors should be treated for their addiction rather than caged. Because of my outlandish view, I have to believe that I’m the blessed vessel for common sense. (/sarcasm)

If we, as a nation, continue to pass ourselves off as a Christian nation of high morals and conservative compassion, we best learn what it entails to be a civil society, don’tcha think?