POV: Since When Should a Misdemeanor Carry a Death Sentence?

Authors

Karen Pita Loor, Boston University School of LawFollow

Author granted license

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

4-28-2020

Publisher

Boston University

Language

en-us

Abstract

In Massachusetts, you can be sentenced to up to two-and-a-half years for shoplifting. Admittedly, you are unlikely to receive this sentence upon your first conviction, but if this is one of multiple shoplifting convictions or you violated probation, you may end up serving time in jail. The same is true for driving without a license, and certainly for drug possession. A first charge of distribution of any type of drug near a park or school means a two-year mandatory minimum sentence. As a matter of fact, about 27 percent of male and 36 percent of female prisoners in Massachusetts are serving time for nonviolent offenses. As we all know, incarceration affects people of color differently. In Massachusetts, African Americans are eight times more likely to be incarcerated, and Latinos four times more likely, than their white counterparts.

Recommended Citation

Karen Pita Loor, POV: Since When Should a Misdemeanor Carry a Death Sentence? , in BU Today (2020).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/shorter_works/96

Publisher URL

http://www.bu.edu/articles/2020/pov-since-when-should-a-misdemeanor-carry-a-death-sentence/