Memphis Killings Fuel Push for Harsher Sentencing Laws
Critics maintain that a recent spate of dramatic killings could have been avoided if defendants were required to serve entire sentences for certain convictions or at least 85 percent of others.
Landwebs
The high-profile killings rattling Memphis this week have added fuel to calls by some politicians for stricter sentencing laws throughout the U.S., reports ABC News. Many maintain that the deaths of a jogger last week and a spate of shooting victims Wednesday would have been avoided had the latest version of Tennessee’s so-called “truth in sentencing” statute, which requires defendants to serve entire sentences for certain convictions and updates the list of convictions where at least 85 percent of a sentence must be served, been in effect. The arguments frustrate those who want to eliminate harsh sentencing laws and counter that such tough-on-crime policies don’t reduce crime rates and only further spike prison populations.
Lawmakers have remained hesitant to embrace so-called truth in sentencing laws out of fear of looking weak on crime. Meanwhile, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton said he would support removing or reducing a credit program that helps inmates shave more time off their sentences for good behavior and trying juveniles as adults if they commit violent crimes.
