It’s time to reform sentencing enhancements
Peter Espinoza and
One of the basic tenets of our criminal justice system is that punishment is supposed to be proportionate to the crime. But in the wave of “tough on crime laws” passed in the 1990s, California turned that longtime legal standard on its head, instead adopting many sentencing enhancements, which add years to a person’s prison term, often doubling it.
California’s Penal Code is now weighed down by more than 150 separate sentence enhancements, ranging from add-ons for possible gang association, having a prior conviction or being on probation. Such enhancements are now routinely applied in nearly every criminal case in the state.
Peter Espinoza and Michael Romano
CalMatters
One of the basic tenets of our criminal justice system is that punishment is supposed to be proportionate to the crime. But in the wave of “tough on crime laws” passed in the 1990s, California turned that longtime legal standard on its head, instead adopting many sentencing enhancements, which add years to a person’s prison term, often doubling it.
California’s Penal Code is now weighed down by more than 150 separate sentence enhancements, ranging from add-ons for possible gang association, having a prior conviction or being on probation. Such enhancements are now routinely applied in nearly every criminal case in the state.
In summary
By Peter Espinoza
Pete Espinoza, a former judge in Los Angeles Superior Court, is a member of the California Committee on Revision of the Penal Code.
Michael Romano, Special to CalMatters
Michael Romano, who teaches criminal law and policy at Stanford Law School, is chair of the California Committee on Revision of the Penal Code, mromano@stanford.edu.
One of the basic tenets of our criminal justice system is that punishment is supposed to be proportionate to the crime. But in the wave of “tough on crime laws” passed in the 1990s, California turned that longtime legal standard on its head, instead adopting many sentencing enhancements, which add years to a person’s prison term, often doubling it.
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