Don't treat mentally ill as violent thugs
The United States Supreme Court has stated: The purpose of a recidivist statute such as that involved here is not to simplify the task of prosecutors, judges or juries. Its primary goals are to deter repeat offenders and, at some point in the life of one who repeatedly commits criminal offenses serious enough to be punished as felonies, to segregate that person from the rest of society for an extended period of time. This segregation and its duration are based not merely on that person's most recent offense but also on the propensities he has demonstrated over a period of time during which he has been convicted of and sentenced for other crimes.
As an advocate involved with various organizations, I state that The Habitual Offender Law was not meant for offenders who send nonthreatening emails and voice messages. It was meant for violent thugs. It was not meant for those with Asperger Syndrome who have organic brain disorders and who are nonviolent offenders. It was not meant for the mentally ill who are nonviolent.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness believes "that persons who have committed offenses due to states of mind or behavior caused by a serious mental illness do not belong in penal or correctional institutions. Such persons require treatment, not punishment. A prison or jail is never an optimal therapeutic setting."
The 45-year sentences should be given to murderers, not nonviolent offenders who only send emails and voice messages from a distance. The Open Society Foundations has given a grant of $50 million to the American Civil Liberties Union in support of its nationwide campaign to cut the U.S. prison population in half by 2020, the most ambitious effort to end mass incarceration in American history. We support and applaud this effort.
Joseph M. Jason
President, NAMI Barrington Area
Buffalo Grove