Something's wrong with our criminal justice system today. OK, lots of things are wrong. The disproportionate number of minorities incarcerated compared to whites, kinks in the bail system, and intolerable waits for trials after accusations are made.
But one thing really bothers me. That's how often sentences bear little relation to magnitude of the crime. Sometimes sentencing guidelines strip judges of the right to use common sense when imposing penalties, and that's not a good idea. But all too often, for no apparent reason, judges order jail time that doesn't come close to matching the severity of the crime. And that's worse.
For instance, David J. Creato Jr. who, after one hung jury trial in Camden County, pleaded guilty to killing his 3-year-old son because his new girlfriend didn't like kids. His sentence was 10 years in prison, eligible for release after six years and nine months. And then there are the six guys in Jersey City who got sentences from five years probation to 15 years in the "shoot up the block" incident that killed 16-year-old Ronald Witherspoon Jr.
On the other hand, the guy who killed suburbanite April Wyckoff got 70 years in the slammer. Justin Garcia got life for a cold-blooded killing in a Jersey City alley. And the doctor who abused Olympic athletes got more than a century behind bars.
But Olvy Torres, who killed Luisa Valdez at a bus stop in North Bergen in a hit-and-run and was later found to have $1 million in cash, bags of diamonds, and other valuables, got only five years.
Felix Restitullo of Jersey City got 40 years for coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct while he photographed the abuse. But Jerrisson Reynoso got only 15 years for killing a man in West New York in a fight over $5.
Why are some crimes worth so little time?
New Jersey has an array of charges that can be filed when one person is implicated in the death of another. They range in severity from felony murder through manslaughter to death by auto. Each has different elements the state must prove to a judge or jury and each carries a range of penalties.
Since New Jersey abolished the death penalty about 20 years ago, the harshest sentence anyone can receive is life without parole. Few get that. But the ones who come closest seem to be those convicted of repeat drug offenses, sexual crimes, and killing beautiful women. Sentences for home invasion, aggravated assault, homicide seem to draw sentences less severe than white collar crimes and political corruption.
Drug penalties often fall into those "guidelines" that judges can't ignore. Same for crimes of a sexual nature. But penalties for homicide, whether willful murder or deaths caused by negligence, can range from life to a few years or even months in jail.
I realize judges can and should take into consideration the circumstances of the death and the assumed intention of the killer, but there's no reason why Creato or Torres should be able to walk out of jail a very few years from now and have a good life. It's simply not right.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A former assemblywoman from Jersey City, Joan Quigley is the president and CEO of the North Hudson Community Action Corp. in Union City.
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