Steven Schiff: “I rise in support of the Chapman amendment and urge my colleagues to vote for it. It makes the point we wish to promote…”

“I rise in support of the Chapman amendment and urge my colleagues to vote for it. It makes the point we wish to promote truth in sentencing around the country. It is my opinion that one of the greatest failings in the system today is that sentences do not mean what they say that they mean. Life in prison, as indicated by the previous speaker, is not life in prison. All too often when a judge sentences a convicted violent criminal to, say, 5, 10, 20 years in prison, whatever the case may be, the actual sentence is 2½ or 5 or even less sometimes. The point is the sentences that appear in the newspapers to our communities' convicted violent criminals sentenced to so many years in prison are not for real. In all too many cases, the individual is released through either discretionary parole or through the operation of good-time credit or through some other means that allows this individual to be back on the street. That is why this amendment is constructive, is a useful addition to the bill, and why I support it.”