Lane County OR Tries to Cut Sentences
January 3rd, 2010
Hundreds of hearings are being held statewide for prison inmates to have their sentences reduced under a new state law. Lane County Circuit Court is handling more of the hearings than the expected, said court administrator Liz Rambo. Reported by KVAL News.
On Wednesday, Lane County District Attorney Alex Gardner released this statement:
Since we have been receiving many media inquiries on the subject of so-called “3508 hearings”, I’m sending a formal statement of my position. It distills to these few points:
- Sharply declining revenue left the legislature with difficult financial choices.
- Oregon’s District Attorneys opposed increasing so-called “good time” (aka: “earned time”) from 20% to 30% and offered lower-risk money-saving alternatives to the legislature
- “Earned Time” is a misnomer for the additional 10%, as the judges are prohibited from considering an inmate’s prison conduct in making related decisions.
- Although these hearings are a substantial burden on our offices, Oregon District Attorneys are meeting the demand and protecting our communities within the law as the legislature has defined it.
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