Oklahoma has the highest incarceration rate in the country, but for some law-and-order zealots, that’s not enough.
Editor Daniel Horowitz wrote in the Conservative Review Monday that Oklahoma, and the rest of the country for that matter, have an “under-incarceration problem.” As proof, he detailed a recent police chase in Oklahoma City that ended in a wreck that killed a mother and her 8-year-old daughter. Horowitz argued that if the driver had been locked up in prison where he belonged, Tonya Horn and her daughter, Rylee Ewald, would still be alive.
However, Horowitz got a lot wrong along the way as he argued for more arrests, more convictions and longer sentences for the more than 2 million inmates in American jails and prisons.
Fact or fiction: Do dangerous gang members who have never served time outnumber those who have been “over-sentenced”?
Horowitz claimed that “for every criminal the political elites believe is over-sentenced, there are endless numbers of career gang members who are as dangerous as can be, yet are either never sentenced to prison or are incarcerated for a short period of time, despite having massive criminal histories. Too many innocent victims needlessly die as a result of this forgotten form of catch-and-release.”
This is impossible to factcheck. First, Horowitz doesn’t explain what he means by “over-sentenced.” Is he referring to mandatory minimums, inmates who receive above-average sentences for their crimes or what exactly? There isn’t a number out there for “over-sentenced” people, so we can’t compare that imaginary number to that of gang members supposedly roaming free.
But the idea that gang members get light sentences is flat wrong. States like California allow gang members to receive enhanced sentences, or extra time. A New York Times Magazine report found, for example, that gang membership could mean the difference between getting a 15-year sentence or 50 years to life.
Fact or fiction: Did the First Step Act give violent drug offenders lower sentences and early release?
The First Step Act is a criminal justice reform package that was signed into law last year by President Donald Trump. It only impacts the federal justice system, and it doesn’t target those convicted of both violent and drug offenses per se.
But it does reduce the mandatory minimum sentence for serious violent crimes from 20 to 15 years. The law also addresses the so-called “three strikes rule” that requires defendants to receive life sentences after three or more convictions for serious violent crimes or drug trafficking. Instead, they would face 25 years in prison.
The law bars a type of enhanced sentence that’s connected to firearm possession, too. Now, defendants won’t get an extra 25 years for holding a gun while committing violent crimes or trafficking, unless they had similar prior offenses.
The law provides an avenue to early release for those convicted of drug crimes involving crack cocaine before 2010, as well, and it gives defendants with limited criminal histories possible exemption from mandatory minimums.
Fact or fiction: Is “nobody standing for victims of crime or for law enforcement”?
This is very untrue. Prosecutors often describe their role as doing just that, and district attorney offices employ victim coordinators who help crime victims access resources they may need. States have funds that reimburse crime victims and their families for things like funeral expenses or counseling. Communities form search parties when children go missing. Some people even dedicate their own spare time to investigating cold case murders or discovering the names of unidentified bodies. Some reporters, like my former Mississippi colleague Jerry Mitchell, spend months or years investigating crimes, yielding journalism that spurs criminal charges and convictions.
Law enforcement advocates argue against charging police in officer-involved shootings and post on social media that #bluelivesmatter. Politicians of every ilk say they support police. Police organizations advocate for law enforcement officials and even defend officers who have been charged with a crime or who face disciplinary action. Conservative talking heads like the friendly folks on “Fox and Friends” often describe law and order as “what makes this country great.”
Americans are also culturally obsessed with crime victims and law enforcement as evidenced by countless shows, books, podcasts and movies that delve into the lives of cops, crime-solving and criminal justice issues.
Fact or fiction: Are most offenders violent and in a gang?
Horowitz railed: “Too many arrests never result in a charge, and too many charges result in probation or little jail time, even after numerous arrests and convictions. The reality is that the political class in all 50 states now views drug trafficking and driving offenses, such as stolen vehicles or drunk driving, as ‘low-level’ offenses, but most offenders, especially the repeat ones, are inherently violent and are usually gang-bangers.”
First, states definitely don’t consider drug trafficking a low-level offense. It’s a felony that’s considered one of the most extreme drug offenses. According to the United States Sentencing Commission, almost half of convicted drug traffickers in fiscal year 2017 had no prior criminal history, contradicting Horowitz’s image of hardened criminals moonlighting as traffickers.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, most federal inmates – about 45 percent – are in jail because of drug charges, not violent offenses. Based on the FBI’s definition of violent crime, about 17 percent of federal inmates received sentences for violent crimes, the most common being sex offenses.
On the other hand, the majority of state inmates, 55 percent, were serving sentences for violent offenses at the end of 2016, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Still, the opinion that inmates are “inherently violent” is just that – an unprovable opinion. And although it’s impossible that the majority of criminal defendants are also gang members, it’s also impossible for me (or Horowitz) to back that up with numbers.
Note: American Mythology is a series where we factcheck an entire piece or debunk a topic across multiple publications or platforms. You can learn more about our approach to factchecking here.
Contact Mollie Bryant at 405-990-0988 or bryant@bigiftrue.org. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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