Defense lawyers critical of sentencing task force

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers says a task force that will recommend sentencing changes has not reached out to that group for input.

In a letter to the Governor’s Task Force on Sentencing and Recidivism, Nashville defense attorney David Raybin said the association believes the task force is considering recommendations that will result in longer sentences and greater costs.

“The cost of the penitentiary is staggering. It now costs almost $900,000,000 with millions more in cost for local jails. The total taxpayers’ expense could shortly approach a billion dollars a year,” the letter states.

The letter suggests correctional officer organizations, prisoner advocacy organizations and even former prisoners could aid the task force in formulating its recommendations.

The letter says the lawyers’ association understands the task force is recommending a criminal justice research council to provide data on things like sentencing, incarceration times and crime rates. Raybin’s letter says that doesn’t go far enough.

A sentencing commission, like the one Tennessee had between 1986 and 1995, would make sentencing fairer and keep costs down, the letter says.

Raybin was asked to write the letter because he served on the previous sentencing commission.

“The Sentencing Commission’s comments and recommendations occasionally caused political embarrassment but they brought to light duplication of legislation, whether the proposal contradicted earlier policy determinations and, most importantly, the fiscal impact considering the number of additional beds that might be needed if a proposal were passed into law.”

Laura Herzog, a spokeswoman for Gov. Bill Haslam, said the task force is still doing its work.

“It is meeting next week to continue talking about recommendations,” she wrote in an email. “It will make recommendations to the governor this fall.”