Sentencing procedures, legal changes, drug activity and more were part of KVOE’s Talk of Emporia on Friday.
Lyon County Attorney Marc Goodman discussed the legal guidelines and strictures that essentially lock in sentences or sentencing ranges with little to no wiggle room, based on the level of criminal activity and number of prior offenses. He used a prominent local case to prove his point.
Goodman says some recent changes in the state’s criminal law have to do with “bed space” or impact to jail space and costs per inmate. He also criticized lawmakers for certain changes affecting prosecutors, including changes to the juvenile justice system two years ago. He says there are essentially no punishments for juveniles now in most criminal cases.
In addition, he says prosecutors now need a social work segment because of the time dedicated to treatment courts like Lyon County’s Drug Court.
Goodman says the county’s criminal caseload is up, and drug activity is the main reason why. He says the initial drug may change — methamphetamine and marijuana are the biggest issues currently — but the tentacles of drug activity now extend well beyond the initial crime.
Goodman says Lyon County’s daily jail roster almost always includes drug activity of some sort. He says people fail to realize drug activity can be the source point of other crimes, including burglaries and robberies among other activity.
While Goodman says the inflow of meth from Mexico has cut down on local production, he also says meth is prevalent because it’s cheap — less expensive than other drugs like marijuana or cocaine — and it’s highly addictive.
Goodman also says marijuana is more refined and thus more addictive than it has been in the past. It may be legal and thus is a revenue-producer for several states, but he says the money can’t be legally deposited in banks due to federal rules and law enforcement in those states has been swamped with other criminal cases after pot was legalized.
