Evening star., 1941-02-02
Repeoters
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Repeoters
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percentage was 26.9 per cent. Per-
! centages are not yet available for
the full year of 1940
The offenseS for which probation
was granted most often were house
breaking and larceny, joyriding,
gambling, assault with a dangerous
weapon, forgery, and robbery.
Many of the persons to whom
probation was granted had previous
police records.
Statistics Presented.
Judge A sentenced Is, or 89 per
cent, of these serious offenders to
the District of Columbia Jail, while
Judge B sentenced 18, or 81 per cent,
to the Jail. These relatively short
sentences hardly seem adequate to
effect any substantial punitive or
rehabilitative treatment, although
they approximate the percentage of
persons sentenced to the Jail for
felony offenses in 1899 and 1888.
Judge A committed 68, or ass per
cent of the 146 offenders with whom
his court dealt, to the penitentiary.
Judge B committed 106 defendants
to the penitentiary, or 573 per cent
of the 1876 who appeared in his court.
In relation to the seriousness of the
offenses, the sentences were lenient
During 1899, 600 per cent of all de-
PENDANTS convicted of major crimes
were sentenced to the penitentiary,
There is a tendency to impose
concurrent sentences for. multiple
| offenses. These sentences do not
approximate the possible sentence
that might be imposed for single
offense.
"The statutory provisions for pun
ishment of serious offenders are ade-
quate. but they are seldom imposed" !"
DIR. Nolan" the report said,
maintains that the perpetration of
robberies and burglaries is made on
| the presumption that there is money
to be secured, and that the criminal
expects sufficient return to justify
the risk he takes. Consequently, an
area where money is becoming more
abundant and. where penalties are
becoming more lenient Is bound to
attract thieves whose primary OBJ
ject is to victimize a law-abiding
public"
Element Of Risk.
at is well known to all engaged
in crime repression that the chronic
criminal does not take unnecessary
chances" the report continues. HE
not infrequently chooses the COM
munity where his risks are few.
There are indications, for example,
that gangs operating in other large
cities are likely to move into Wash
ington if they are not already here"
In one instance in which a boy
of 18 received three-to-nine-
month sentence in the District Jail,
the report pointed out that he had
been convicted Of II cases Of house
breaking and larceny. The crimes
were committed in a period OF less
than a month last fall, shortly after
his release from the Virginia In
dustrial Home School for Boys. He
was accompanied by two younger
companions, and had an unloaded
gun, but carried bullets in his
pocket.
when questioned, he said the gun
was unloaded because was scared
that if I got caught I was liable
to pull the trigger and I didn't
want to hurt nobody" the report
said.
ITO a criminologist, he would be
considered an old and hardened
criminal" the report commented.
In support of the contention that
penitentiary sentences were lenient
in comparison to the seriousness OF
the offense charged, the report cites
the case of a man of % who had
14-year record of convictions for
petit larceny, housebreaking, auto
theft and joyriding. In November
he was found guilty in nine cases
of housebreaking and larceny and
sentenced to one to three years on
each charge, the sentences to run
concurrently.
Case of Reduced Charge.
"He typifies the chronic criminal;
the undesirable who should be re-
moved from the community for as
long a time as the law permits"
| the report said. Explaining that a
robbery sentence may run from six
months to Is years, the report
alleged another case where a charge
was reduced so defendant might
get four months, and described this
as a process of bargaining" that
"often allows the criminal to plead
guilty to an offense which will carry
a more lenient sentence than the
original charge" The sentence pro-
nounced most frequently for rob-
berry, it was added. was one to three
years.
The report said that the most
severe sentences represent those i'm
posed for multiple offenses, citing
maximum penalties as high as 18
wears for armed robbery, but said
in this connection that "the i'm
nosition of concurrent sentences as
a practice of the court will not deter
the offender from continuing his
criminal practices in the COM
munity. If he feels that the SEN
tance will be no more severe for
several offenses than 1t will for