Dear friend:
Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously said he could not define obscenity but that he knew it when he saw it. Well, I feel the same about injustice. I know it when I see it, and it looks like Michelle Taylor's case.
This is the video of Michelle's sentencing on April 15th in Elko County, Nevada. Last November a jury found her guilty of lewdness with a minor under the age of 14. That sounded pretty serious to me until I heard what she did: asking (unsuccessfully, I might add) a teenager for sex and making him touch her breast over her clothing.
Let's be clear: FAMM does not condone such conduct or any criminal behavior, but I was dumbstruck when I learned that on April 15, Michelle was sentenced to life in prison. No reasonable person can believe that the punishment fits the crime in this case. Life sentences should be reserved for the most violent and repeat violent offenders!
Take a look for yourself. Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grygYI737ZQ to see some of Michelle's sentencing hearing.
Why did Michelle get such an excessive sentence? Nevada law imposes a mandatory life sentence (with parole eligibility after 10 years) for the crime of lewdness with a minor under 14. The prosecutors had discretion to charge her with any number of crimes that carried different penalties, but they chose to prosecute her under this law. The prosecutors also refused to offer Michelle a plea deal. No one knows why.
The jury who convicted her had no idea she faced life in prison and the judge who sentenced her to life had no choice in the matter.
As the video shows, the judge was not allowed to consider relevant factors at sentencing, such as whether this was her first such crime (it was) or whether medical experts who evaluated her thought she would be likely to commit another crime in the future (they concluded the opposite). All he could do was give her the sentence required by law: life behind bars.
During 19 years of leading FAMM, I have learned of many excessive and unjust sentences and this is among the most outrageous.
If you are as outraged as I am, please help by forwarding this email and video to 10 of your friends. Help them learn how mandatory minimum sentencing laws are destroying lives without making our communities safer. Tell them to join us in demanding change today.
Sincerely,
Julie
Julie Stewart
President
P.S. - For more information about this case and FAMM's work, please read our press release.