The following editorial appeared in the Kansas City Star on Thursday, Aug. 14:

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has taken a more sensible approach to prison sentences than has Attorney General John Ashcroft. Kennedy said recently that Congress should revise federal sentencing guidelines. As he pointed out, the guidelines contribute to a prison system that’s crowded, expensive and ineffective in preparing inmates to re-enter society.

Ashcroft, by contrast, has directed government attorneys to tell the Justice Department any time a judge pronounces a sentence below the range called for in guidelines.

The attorney general is trying to exert unwarranted pressure on judges. He said he was just living up to his department’s “solemn obligation to ensure that laws concerning criminal sentence are faithfully, fairly and consistently enforced.”

Ashcroft’s directive, however, creates an unnecessarily adversarial atmosphere by making it seem that Big Brother is watching judges. And this may well worsen the problem of crowded prisons.

Congress mandated federal sentencing guidelines in 1984. They became effective in late 1987. The idea was to create consistent and fair sentences for people convicted of similar crimes, and to make sure convicts served their time.

The guidelines apply to all federal felonies and most serious misdemeanors. They take into account the seriousness of the crime and the guilty person’s criminal history.

But Kennedy says mandatory minimum sentences for some federal crimes mean judges can’t take special circumstances into consideration so punishments will more closely fit the crimes.

“In all too many cases,” Kennedy told a recent meeting of the American Bar Association, “mandatory minimum sentences are unjust.” One result is that America’s prisons are more crowded than ever.

In many cases the cells are filled with nonviolent offenders who should repay their debt to society in other ways. This is especially true of many inmates with drug convictions.

Kennedy is on the right track. Ashcroft isn’t. Congress should work with the U.S. Sentencing Commission to make the guidelines more fair and effective.

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