Sentencing and Corrections

16 February

• Prison is likely to expose Martha to just a different set of dominating and exploiting people. And note that we're concerned about weaknesses in Martha's character that make her prone to doing dangerous things.
• We are looking for the instruments to socialize Martha. Family relationships.
• We want to give the judge the chance to see that there's something powerful and good about building some kind of socializing institution for her, so that she can start again. And without it, she's still a dangerous person.
• A dangerous, but not very guilty person.
• Lawyers don't look, so judges don't see, and so they sentence uncreatively and unsatisfactorily.
• Don't forget about her suicide as a factor: this might help you motivate the judge.
• We want confinement, but not prison, basically. Foster care, maybe, with ankle bracelet.
• Problem with a 5-year sentence is that it doesn't fix things; with a 30 year sentence, it's more than she deserves.