On October 1st, a new law comes into effect in Alabama that will directly or indirectly affect the entire state population. New sentencing guidelines for criminals will come into effect for those with non-violent crimes that are intended to reduce the State’s prison population, which is generally regarded as being 190 percent of intended capacity.

Various victim’s rights and prosecutor groups have opposed this change in the law. I support it as I see so many minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals being incarcerated in Andalusia for crimes that police in, say, Oregon, Washington State, California etc. would simply ignore because there is no victim. The only logical reason I see for this is revenue, as quoted to me by local law enforcement, However, each taxpayer pays much more than the court revenue.

Well, somebody who disagrees with me would probably advocate Singapore’s laws of requiring caning for merely spitting gum on the sidewalk. I’d welcome a different opinion.

Walter Boyd

Andalusia