Dear Webserv,
It is indeed a rare thing for me to respond to a post on my blog site. The logistics make it difficult. I write Knee-mails and send them to CSE. They post one a week and people respond. After a week or so the responses are sent to me. In most cases, it would be old news by the time I gave a response. Plus, believe it or not, it’s busy in here for me.
However…your entry on July 11, 2009 at 10:21am needs an urgent response that all can read. Someone in our ministry posted an Action Alert June 19, 2009 to encourage people to write representatives and support HR 61 which would reduce Federal sentences by 50% for first time non-violent crimes. Your response was that this was a bad bill for various reasons which I really need to address.
Before I discuss specifics I will start with a general overview. First, I thank you for your prayers and support. This has been an unbelievably expensive battle against an enemy with unlimited funds. God’s people like you have been faithful to help us in our time of great need. Thank you!
Second, you are right that this bill would release some “real criminals just because their crime was non-violent.” You said, “People like Bernie Madoff would go free.” Getting 50% off a 150 year sentence for a man his age would not set him free, and I think people who support what happened to him are missing the real picture. Is it the government’s job to be sure we don’t make stupid investments? I didn’t follow the case very well, but it seems like the government has no authority from the Constitution to get involved in private affairs. Just because his swindle involved billions does not change the basic idea. If I get swindled investing in a bad hamburger or hot dog, is it the job of the US government to step in and right every wrong? What ever happened to, “Let the buyer beware!”? If it is the job of the government to stop people from making stupid purchases or investments, I would like to see where they got this authority. I am concerned about a much bigger picture. What is the authority for the government to get involved in things like: welfare, education, drugs, crimes committed in a state and not on Federal property (see Art. III, Sec. 2, Cl. 3 of the US Constitution)? Since the trial of all crimes is to be in the state where the crime occurred, and about 90% of the people in Federal prisons did not commit a crime on Federal property (like post offices, military bases, and Washington D.C.), they should never have been in Federal court or prison to start with. HR 61 would not even apply if the government obeyed the Constitution. State courts give much less time for the same crimes in nearly all cases. They are much more sensitive to the costs of locking people up because they don’t have the printing press to print money and they must balance their budget each year. Just making the Federal Government follow the Constitution would cut government back to about 10% of its current size and eliminate the financial problems that will probably destroy us in the next few years.
Third, there is no question that crime should be punished. I think we can all agree on that! We need to be careful though to define exactly what a crime is, what a fit punishment is, and who gets to make these decisions and administer the punishment. If we first look to God’s Word as our guide in all issues, we will see that He devoted a huge section of His Word to the subjects of law, crime, punishment, and how civil government should be organized and administered. He takes these subjects very seriously. Since He created the world and knows our very thoughts, and His law is perfect (Ps. 19:7) it would be foolish for us to not investigate what he has to say about subjects first.
In my 40 years of studying God’s Word, I have been unable to find where the possession of any substance should be punishable. I have never taken any drugs or tasted any alcohol (well, I’ve had Nyquil a few times) and, Lord willing, I never will. However, there should be no laws against anyone possessing or using any substance from what I see in God’s Word. A person is only punished for an action that injures another person. If you want to get drunk, that’s your business. If you drive drunk and injure my family, that’s my business.
Since about 90% of the men locked up with me are in here for drug related offenses – mostly using or possessing – if we followed God’s law, they would all go home now. Forget the 50%; they would get 100% off. If they injured someone or stole property that would be punishable under God’s law, but not possessing or using a drug. Anyone can get “high” sniffing gasoline or rubber cement, but those items are not causing a crime wave. It is the very fact that drugs are illegal that causes some to take them. It is also the fact that they are illegal that drives the price up and creates the crime associated with drugs. What if anyone could buy any drug at Wal-Mart? There would be no drug dealers, no border patrol wars or smuggling, no gang wars over drug traffic and 90% smaller prisons. When alcohol was made illegal, use and crime went up. When Prohibition was repealed, use and crime went down. I cannot see any reason (from Scripture or common sense) why any drugs should be regulated by any government. If you can find the verses I’m missing, please show me.
Along the same lines would be the “conspiracy” laws that allow thousands of people to be arrested and imprisoned with absolutely no evidence of a crime. I could get two people in here to agree that you sold them drugs. They could contact the US Attorney and you would be arrested, even though you have never met these people and have never used or sold drugs in your life. To make it worse, they would get time off their sentence! The system, at the Federal level, is out of control! HR 61 is a great step in the right direction. America has 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of the world’s prisoners! We are so far in first place that we have more than second and third place combined (per capita – Russia and China)! Who are we to talk about their human rights violations? Only a small percentage, maybe 5%, is in prison for crimes that actually injured someone. If you study the way Federal sentencing can be enhanced over gun issues it should cause you great alarm! There was a man in here with me that was arrested for giving some of his prescription pain killers to a friend with terminal cancer. They asked him if there were any guns in the house. He had a new hand gun that had never been taken out of the box, unloaded, in a locked box in the bottom of a locked duffle bag in another room. They couldn’t find it, so he helped them. He was given three years for the drug charge and an extra five years for the gun! Yes, Webserv, laws like HR 61 need to be passed. My former roommate was convicted of a crime ten years ago and served two years in prison. Then, five years ago he was riding in a truck with a friend to go to the store. The friend was stopped for speeding and ticketed and his passenger, my friend and cellmate, was given nine years for being near a gun! He has served 4 ½ already. He is a great Christian and not a threat to anyone. HR 61 would send him home. Another man in here was arrested for using drugs. He owned rental property in another state 200 miles away. After he was arrested, they went to the rental house and found that the renter had a gun. Because the owner had a key to the house, he was given an extra three year “gun enhancement” along with his three year drug sentence. One of my best friends in here was stopped for a routine traffic ticket and found to be on some drug. He had a hunting shotgun under the seat of his truck. It had been there for years and never in any violence or crime. He was enhanced three years for the gun. In all of these cases the gun was not used in the “crime” and this enhancement makes them a “violent” felon and prevents them from getting time off their sentence by taking the drug program offered here. There are thousands of stories like this that can be told showing that the system is way out of control. HR 61 is only a tiny step in the right direction.
In the Federal Court system, if you take a plea deal, you will get about 1/3 of the time you will get for the same crime if you take them to trial. The Feds have about a 98% conviction rate. The playing field is not level. Hitler and Stalin had a near 100% conviction rate. That does not prove they are right or that their victims are guilty. I strongly urge you to get and read The Kennel by Elijah Green (a pseudonym for a preacher who wears green). The book is only $6.50 including shipping from dthomas@usa.com, 803-613-1527, 160 Indian Ridge Drive, North Augusta, SC 29860. You should have your eyes opened a little by this book to see that HR 61 is a good bill and much more reform needs to take place fast in the Federal system if America is to remain the Constitutional Republic our Founding Fathers intended it to be. I suggest you call any lawyer that practices in the Federal courts and ask him to explain it to you.
We agree that crime needs to be punished, but what is proper punishment? Locking a man or woman away from their family for years punishes the wrong people. Almost all the guys in here are on a long vacation. They play ball, work out, read books, watch TV, and wait for the call that supper is ready and you pay for it! Prison punishes the wife, children, and the taxpayers. The “punishment” to the inmates is minimal. Even the Romans years ago said that, “Prolonged incarceration is cruel and unusual punishment.” If your son broke a household rule that called for a spanking and you said, “Son, I’m going to give you ten swats a day for the next four years,” he would hate you. The punishment doesn’t prevent the behavior in the future. It destroys your son’s respect for you. And it should. Or what if you said, “Son, I’m going to give you 3,000 swats for what you did;” he would hate you that way too. The federal system especially gives way too much time for offenses. Read The Kennel to see why.
God’s Word never calls for prison as a form of punishment. Beatings with a rod took place in the courtroom so the judge could see what his sentence actually did to the man. No one was to get over 40 stripes. Today, most judges never visit the prisoner or the family and have no clue what their sentence did to the family. See Luke 11:46 where Jesus said, “Woe unto you lawyers…” They bind heavy burdens grievous to be born (like long prison terms) and never touch the burdens themselves.
Fines and restitution as punishment are clearly spelled out in God’s Word. If you steal my sheep, you pay back four sheep. Everyone goes home happy. I now have four extra sheep! Come steal another one, please! Certain crimes were punishable by execution. Following God’s wisdom on this topic would eliminate overcrowding of max security prisons (or close them) and deter many violent crimes.
Sending people to prison causes lots of collateral damage. If we knew a terrorist was hiding in your town, would it be reasonable to just blow up the entire neighborhood – including you and your family – to kill the terrorist? That’s what prison does to children and families. The children should not suffer for the sins of the fathers.
These long prison terms cost the taxpayers a fortune. It is about $30,000 per year for a minimum security inmate. More for others. The people who profit from this system are the courts, lawyers, and prison employees (plus vendors). Did you know that Barbara Bush’s family owns Keefe that supplies lots of commissary items here (at 30% mark-up)? What a deal! I bet they want to see the prisons stay full!
It is an interesting fact of life that wicked people with skeletons in their closets tend to judge others more harshly. Wicked King Nebuchadnezzar ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter (Daniel 3). Sinful King David ordered an unnamed thief killed for stealing sheep when he had just committed adultery and murder (2 Sam. 12). A sinful group of hypocrites wanted to stone a woman taken in adultery (Jn. 8), but not the man? The very wicked Queen Athaliah brought charges of treason against those who were installing her own grandson as king. She had killed the rest and didn’t know she had missed one (2 Kn. 11; 2 Chr. 23). The hypocritical Pharisees often brought grievous charges against Jesus for minor events that they thought were infractions of their law (Mt. 12:2, 24, etc.). The more wicked America becomes (and its leaders) the longer prison terms will be and the larger the prison system will grow. Hypocritical Muslim rulers will often order people whipped with hundreds of stripes or beheaded for crimes they themselves are guilty of but never got caught. Jesus very wisely said, “let him that is without sin cast a stone” (Jn. 8).
I suggest HR 61 get passed immediately (be sure it is retroactive and watch the fine print). The BOP will try to stall or derail it. Big prisons are what give them a job, see The Kennel. I further suggest that max sentence for first time non-violent crimes be three months. That’s enough time to get the message, lose your job, get behind on the house payment, and make you not want to come back. If we still feel we need to lock people up, second offence should be max of one year and third or more, longer. We need to be cautious what is classified as a “violent” crime as well.
Yes, Webserv, I would have given your answer several years ago. You almost have to get attacked by the beast yourself and spend some time here to understand. It was the fundamentalist Christians, like me, that caused this problem with our cries for “tough on crime!” We didn’t seek God’s face (2 Chr. 7:14) on this matter. Long prison terms are tough on children, wives, society, and the men and women who come here.
Is the real hidden agenda to advance the “New World Order” by taking away guns from felons, building large prisons to house dissenters, and advance the socialization of America? Probably. It won’t matter soon. God is laughing at their plans (Ps. 2). Jesus is coming to set up His Kingdom on earth (Rev. 21-22). Some select children of His will get to rule with Him. Then we will see things run the way God intended. No prisons, but certainly tough on crime! I hope to be one of those chosen to rule. I hope you are there, too.
Thanks again for your support, prayers, and comments. Pray about this issue and support HR 61, please
Kent Hovind