California’s Minimum Sentencing Laws and a Veteran
Wayne sent me a note the other day with a story about one of his high school friends, Sargent Binkley.
Sargent Binkley committed two robberies in 2006. These crimes were desperate attempts to obtain the painkillers he became addicted to after sustaining injuries while serving abroad. These injuries were repeatedly misdiagnosed and mistreated by the military medical system, resulting in Sargent’s downward spiral of addiction. He harmed no-one, took no money, and turned himself in. Under California’s minimum sentencing law, no judge can commute his sentence to one more in proportion to his crime. Sargent has been in jail for over a year and a half and potentially faces final sentencing on September 20th, 2007, in Santa Clara County.
Twelve years for a handful of painkillers? Wow, that’s just way too harsh in my opinion. Head on over to http://supportsarge.org/ and see how you can help to avoid this harsh sentencing.