Nevadan Sentenced to Harsh State Mandatory Minimum in April
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2010
Contact: Monica Pratt Raffanel, media@famm.org
WASHINGTON D.C. - Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), the nation's only nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to fighting one-size-fits-all sentences, welcomed the docketing statement filed with the Nevada Supreme Court early this morning by lawyers for Michelle Lyn Taylor. The statement, filed by Alina Kilpatrick, an Elko County public defender, is the first step in the process of appealing the mandatory life sentence Ms. Taylor received on April 12.
FAMM released its first statement condemning Taylor’s sentence on April 26. (The statement can be found here) An Elko County, Nev., jury convicted Ms. Taylor, 34, of lewdness with a minor under 14 for forcing a 13-year-old boy to touch her breast and soliciting him for sex. Conviction for lewdness with a minor under 14 carries a mandatory life sentence in Nevada with parole eligibility after 10 years. The video of her sentencing has been viewed by nearly 20,000 people on YouTube.
"I was absolutely floored when I first learned about this sentence and I still am today,” said FAMM President Julie Stewart. “I am glad Ms. Taylor and her attorneys are appealing this absurd sentence. I have promised them that FAMM will do everything we can to support them. The Nevada Supreme Court should overturn this cruel and disproportionate sentence, and the Nevada legislature should fix this terribly unjust mandatory minimum sentencing law,” Ms. Stewart concluded.
Families Against Mandatory Minimums is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization supporting fair and proportionate sentencing laws that allow judicial discretion while maintaining public safety. For more information on FAMM, visit www.famm.org or contact Monica Pratt Raffanel at media@famm.org.
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