Viewpoint: Sentence Smarter to Stop Prison Crowding
By State Rep. Greg Vitali

With Pennsylvania facing the prospect of boarding 2,000 inmates in other states because our prisons are full, the time has come to take a hard look at how we sentence convicted offenders, particularly through mandatory minimum sentences, to save money.

Mandatory minimum sentences require judges, by law, to impose minimum prison terms for certain crimes. Judges are not permitted to consider lesser sentences under these laws, regardless of the circumstances unique to the crime or defendant in each case.

I authored legislation, House Resolution 12, and served on the Pennsylvania Sentencing Commission advisory committee my legislation created that studied the use and impact of mandatory minimum sentences.

The result was a 490-page report suggesting some smart changes in mandatory minimum sentences that I believe can save the state money without jeopardizing public safety.

One key suggestion was eliminating the mandatory minimum sentence of two years for selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school. Unfortunately, the drug-free school zone law is not written in a way that attacks the problem of someone selling drugs to a minor.

For example, if one person transfers a small amount of marijuana to another person in an apartment that happens to be in a drug-free school zone, they would face two years in prison. They could be people with no prior record who hold a steady job. A long prison term would do no good because they would probably be better helped through treatment.

Drug-free school zones cover big parts of metropolitan areas, so the law does not effectively target sales to minors. For example, my Harrisburg office is in three drug-free schools zones. Besides, there's already a law in place that mandates a one-year sentence for the sale of drugs to a minor.

The report also suggests allowing punishment short of full confinement for a portion of nonviolent offenders' mandatory minimum sentence, coupled with drug, alcohol and mental health treatment to reduce recidivism. Studies have shown that people who serve long sentences are more likely to commit other crimes. If they get the proper treatment, they are less likely to commit other crimes.

Pennsylvania Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard has repeatedly called for nonviolent offenders to be placed in non-prison settings.

Finally, the report suggests raising the threshold needed to trigger mandatory minimum sentences for trafficking cocaine from 2 to 5 grams. That would target tougher penalties to people who traffic cocaine as a business, instead of people who are selling smaller quantities of the drug to support a habit that can be broken with treatment.

I understand and support long sentences for people who pose a danger to society. But the reality is we have a limited amount of prison cells and a limited amount of money for our correction system. We want to make sure we use it smart; use it in the right way.

Viewpoint: American Flag Not a Symbol of Goverment

I along with several of my Brothers from the Warrior Brotherhood Veterans Motorcycle Club are the Veterans responsible for placing the flags outside Dr. Zemo's office for Veterans Day. Dr. Zemo has struck a nerve with many Veterans across Pennsylvania and many more across this great nation. It is because of Veterans like us that he has the right to turn his flags upside down. He claims that this is his way of protesting our "Marxist" government. I have offered Dr. Zemo other alternative ways to protest but he continues to place his flags upside down and we will continue to protest his protest.

Our Flag is not a symbol of our Government. It is the symbol for our country and those who have fought and died protecting this country. We the Veterans who he is offending do not care what his political views are. In fact most of would probably agree with some of them. The fact that he chooses to to use the symbol of freedom and sacrifice to protest is what upsets us. It just does not make sense that he chooses to place 2 small flags upside down in the window of his small office on West Louther St in Carlisle.

The people he chooses to protest will never see nor will they understand what he is doing with these flags. They just see upside down flags. I respect his right to protest and have asked as a Disabled Veteran for him to choose a better method of protesting but he has refused. Why not put up a large banner explaining his position in stead of disrespecting Veterans? Heck I will even help him pay for it if he promises to hang his flag properly.

"Only 2 defining forces have ever offered to die for you....Jesus Christ and the American Soldier.
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom."

Respectfully,

Mike Geib
National Sgt @ Arms
Warrior Brotherhood VMC, Inc. 

Viewpoint: Thompson Embodied Anger, Frustration of Harrisburg Voters

Taking a deeper look at the question as to why 4,900 voters cast their vote for Linda Thompson, I believe a vast majority of those voters feel that they were out of the sight of others for many years and that Linda embodied their anger and frustration, and understood human conditions.

We who are fortunate to own a home, have a job, or go up to a Penn State game once a year only see a glimmer of their anger, frustration and despair every now and then on the 6:00 and 11:00 news. Most of her voters see two different realities of what Harrisburg is. One is a progressive, economic development driven universe and others, who are trying to pay their bills, find a job, make their streets safe, keep their homes, and put food on their table.

The economic conditions of today is the same fear around everyone's kitchen table at night, no matter where you live, or the color of your skin.
But even if this is the case of ones conditions and experiences, one can never allow this to be the rationale and or an excuse as to how they will act, lead, behave or conduct their affairs. One cannot let ones past define ones future.

My only hope is that Mayor-elect Thompson understands that it is far easier to accept and to stand on the past, then to be objective in finding and working towards the answers of the future. Whether we are black or white, Republican or Democrat, rich or poor, the have's or the have-nots, our conditions will not be improved unless we can understand each other. We cannot let our conditions define who we are, and what actions we are going to take.

My hope is that Mayor Thompson understands that she is not the only one, black or white, rich or poor who has been dealt a bad hand in life. It is not the cards we are dealt that are important, but how we play the hand of cards that we are dealt.

Fred Clark

Viewpoint: Budget Process is in Dire Need of Changes
By Sen. Mike Brubaker (R-Lancaster and Chester Counties)

One of the lessons we learned during this year’s budget impasse is that the budget process is fatally flawed. The impasse adversely affect many of our citizens, and we cannot allow those services and organizations that have proven their value to Pennsylvania to be faced with the prospect of receiving no state funding while elected officials continue to hash out their differences months after the budget deadline. Any process that puts politics above people requires a drastic overhaul.

I introduced legislation last month that would hold legislators accountable for failing to pass a balanced budget on time. Senate Bill 1068 would set new milestones well ahead of the June 30th deadline by which the House and Senate must pass a balanced budget. If one or both chambers fail to meet these new deadlines, then every member of that body would be forced to forfeit all pay, per diems and expense reimbursements for travel, lodging and meals for every day that a budget is not passed. My bill would not allow legislators to collect pay retroactively after the budget is passed. If a deadline is missed, my legislation would also require all legislators to remain in Harrisburg until the budget is passed.

Members from both parties agree that the measures currently in place to ensure timely budget passage are inadequate, and we must take action to prevent another impasse. While a few of my colleagues in the Senate have signed on as cosponsors to Senate Bill 1068, some members of the General Assembly are not satisfied with my solution. I am hopeful that the legislators who do not favor this proposal will offer an alternative. Senate Bill 1068 is one solution, but it does not have to be the solution. However, I am steadfast in my belief that doing nothing to address the broken budget process is not an option.

Many of the citizens I have spoken with who have expressed outrage over the budget process have been very receptive to this solution. Several have asked how they can help. The best way all Pennsylvanians can ensure timely budgets is to call their legislators to demand action. We will not solve this problem without broad bipartisan support, and that starts with the citizens voicing their opinions to their Senators and Representatives. I urge all Pennsylvanians to contact their legislators to demand action to fix the budget process.

We have suffered through seven straight years of late budgets, and we will need strong and vocal support of all citizens to ensure that this recent budget impasse will be the last.