Iowa lawmaker: Revise state's mandatory minimum sentences

CEDAR FALLS, Ia. – Iowa laws that require mandatory minimum sentences for some crimes should be reviewed and possibly revised so that fewer people, particularly minorities, are sent to prison and instead begin to head down a path of reform more quickly, some state lawmakers said Thursday at the Iowa Criminal Justice Summit.

“A lot of people we have sitting in our prisons serving mandatory minimums probably score lower on our risk assessments than people we are letting out within six months of going in, “ Iowa Rep. Mary Wolfe, D-Clinton, told the 250 people at the summit, held at the University of Northern Iowa.

“Going forward, there’s got to be some acceptance amongst the Legislature that just because it looks good in the headlines, that doesn’t necessarily make it good law for Iowa,” she said.

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About two dozen speakers spoke about reforming Iowa’s criminal justice system so that fewer people are incarcerated, including minorities, and finding ways to make re-entry to society easier for those who had been imprisoned.

About $80 billion is spent annually to operate the nation’s prisons and jails, which house more than 2 million people, according to the U.S. Justice Action Network, a summit sponsor. In addition, about one in three American adults has a criminal record.

Iowa state Rep. Helen Miller, D-Fort Dodge, spent much of the past year helping organize the summit. She said the criminal justice system in Iowa — and the nation — has many inequalities, and changes are needed. Among the people who can help make the changes are those who pass laws at the state and national level, she said.

One thing Miller said she plans to address in the next legislative session is the inability of people who have been incarcerated to get professional licenses. “How can people get on with their lives if they can’t work?” she asked.

Wolfe also has plans to push for legislation next session: reducing the mandatory minimum sentences for some robbery charges, something the state’s Public Safety Advisory Board has recommended, but it has not been passed, she said.

“A higher percentage of African-Americans are serving a mandatory minimum prison sentence for robbery than any other crime,” Wolfe said. “Mandatory minimums do not make the state safer.”

The criminal justice system discussion came on the same day proposed legislation was unveiled by a bipartisan group of U.S. senators that, if passed, would adjust prison sentences for some mandatory minimum sentences, including those for nonviolent drug offenders. Instead, focus would be placed on violent criminals, including those involved in domestic violence. In addition, the proposed federal legislation would allow judges greater discretion in determining sentences and would help offenders successfully re-enter society, reducing recidivism.

The group of senators was led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, and Senate Assistant Leader Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois.

Grassley, in remarks about the legislation, described it as a “historic reform bill (that) addresses legitimate over-incarceration concerns while targeting violent criminals and masterminds in the drug trade.”

Speakers at Thursday’s summit praised the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015.

“You don’t have just bipartisan talk, there is actual legislation in front of the U.S. Congress that will begin to turn the tide back,” said Van Jones, a CNN political contributor, attorney and human rights activist.

Grassley needs to hear from Iowans who support the legislation, Jones said. “He holds the fate of this whole issue in his hands.”

Said Mark Holden, senior vice president and general counsel of Koch Industries Inc.: “This is a great start, and it’s going to start to undo what we’ve created over the last 30 or 40 years in this country. … It’s going to help sentencing reform, corrections reform.”

Bernard Kerik, a former New York Police Department commissioner, was sent to federal prison for 48 months after he admitted that he failed to pay payroll taxes for his children’s nanny. Kerik, who was released in 2013, told the group that truly bad and dangerous people should be incarcerated.

But, he said, “today’s criminal justice system eternally punishes people who have been incarcerated until the day you die. It never goes away. You shouldn’t be punished for life for a mistake you made.”

The nation’s criminal justice system needs to be fixed, Kerik said. Who is going to make lawmakers fix it, he asked the group. “You.”