Opponents of a proposal to grant judges discretion in setting aside mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders in certain Class B and Class C felony cases say the law would apply in only a small number of cases.
To supporters of the measure, that’s all the more reason Gov. Neil Abercrombie should sign the bill into law.
"We know that it’s a manini kind of small step, but it’s the best that we’ve been able to do in decades," said Kat Brady, coordinator for the Community Alliance on Prisons. "What we need to do is show the prosecutors that the sky isn’t going to fall, that we’re not opening the gates of hell.
"This is basically turning discretion over to the courts, and it’s not even an elimination of mandatory minimums. It’s just a lessening."
The proposal, Senate Bill 68, is among nine bills identified by the governor for a potential veto. Abercrombie informed the Legislature on June 24 of nine bills that he is considering rejecting by Tuesday, the veto deadline.
Like all measures on the veto list, SB 68 had advocates and opponents arguing their case before the administration. Abercrombie also has the option of letting the bill become law without his signature.
Lawmakers have said they are unlikely to call a special session to override any vetoes.
The attorney general’s office, along with other state and county law enforcement personnel, opposed the sentencing measure during the legislative session.
Class B and C felonies for drug promotion carry mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years and five years, respectively.
Sentencing courts already have a wide range of discretion in sentencing for drug possession offenses, including Drug Court, deferred pleas, probation and treatment, the attorney general’s office said.
Hawaii County Prosecutor Mitchell Roth said the vast majority of violent-crime cases that come through his office are drug-related, with the majority of Class B and C cases stemming from methamphetamine, or ice, possession and distribution.
"Basically, this bill seeks to reduce the penalty to the people who are causing the greatest problems to our community by distributing drugs, which are the primary cause of most crime in Hawaii County," Roth said in testimony.
Prison advocates say many of the felony cases involve nonviolent offenders caught using drugs.
"They’re really not criminals so much as just people that were found in possession of drugs that are addicted to drugs," said state Sen. Maile Shimabukuro (D, Kalaeloa-Waianae-Makaha), the introducer of the bill. "What they need is treatment as opposed to prison time."
She and Brady said the bill would not take away the power of the courts to impose the mandatory minimums, but allow judges to take other factors into account.
"We’re not saying let the courts let everybody out," Brady said. "We’re saying let the courts decide."
In a three-page letter to the governor seeking his approval for the bill, Brady cited statistics from 2000 — the last time data were available — showing mandatory minimum laws had a "devastating" effect on women.
Women, often the primary caregiver of families, have a lower rate of violent-crime convictions and a higher rate of drug-related convictions when compared with men, and 56.5 percent of women received sentences of at least five years under the mandatory minimum law, Brady wrote.
Shimabukuro agreed that even though the law would apply to only a small number of offenders, it still would be "a great start to at least divert some of these people — that really shouldn’t be getting these mandatory sentences — into treatment."
