Title: McCutcheon v. Cox
Citation: 377 P.2d 683, 71 N.M. 274
Docket Number: 7143
State: new-mexico
Issuer: new-mexico Supreme Court
Date: December 19, 1962

377 P.2d 683 (1962) 71 N.M. 274 Marvin McCUTCHEON, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Harold A. COX, Warden of the Penitentiary of New Mexico, Defendant-Appellant. No. 7143. Supreme Court of New Mexico. December 19, 1962. Rehearing Denied January 25, 1963. *684 Earl E. Hartley, Atty. Gen., Oliver E. Payne, J. Eugene Gallegos, Asst. Attys. Gen., Santa Fe, for appellant. John S. Catron, Santa Fe, for appellee. CHAVEZ, Justice. While serving a sentence in the New Mexico state penitentiary from Socorro County, appellee made a non-violent escape from the prison farm. Upon recapture, he was charged with unlawful escape contrary to § 42-1-61, N.M.S.A., 1961 Pocket Supp. He pled guilty and was sentenced in Valencia County to serve a term in the penitentiary of "not less than two years," which sentence was to run consecutively with his initial sentence. After an in-custody parole from the first sentence, appellee began service of his sentence for escape. Subsequently, he filed a petition for an alternative writ of mandamus in the district court of the first judicial district for Santa Fe County. A writ was issued by the district court of the first judicial district to appellant, commanding him to treat appellee's sentence for escape as being for a maximum term of two years, or to show cause why it should not be so treated. After a hearing, the court granted a peremptory writ of mandamus ordering appellant to treat the sentence for escape as being for a maximum term of two years. Appellant made timely appeal to this court. Appellee was sentenced under the provisions of § 42-1-61, N.M.S.A., 1961 Pocket Supp., which provides: The state legislature, in 1955, enacted the Indeterminate Sentence, Pardons and Paroles Acts, § 41-17-1 et seq., N.M.S.A., 1961 Pocket Supp. Section 41-17-1, supra, provides: *685 As the maximum sentence prescribed by law is not explicitly set out in § 42-1-61, supra, we must determine it in order to resolve this issue. In State v. Maestas, 63 N.M. 67, 313 P.2d 337, this court was called upon to construe a statute with very similar penalty provisions. There, the defendant was sentenced by the trial court "for a period of not less than three years and not more than life." The statute pertaining in that case provided that the sentence to be imposed upon a person convicted of second degree murder shall be: "* * * for any period of time not less than three [3] years; * * *." Section 40-24-10, N.M.S.A., 1953 Comp. Viewing this statute in conjunction with § 41-17-1, supra, we held: The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals was called upon to construe the federal statute penalizing aggravated robbery in Binkley v. Hunter, 10 Cir., 170 F.2d 848. The defendant was tried and convicted of a violation of 12 U.S.C.A. §§ 588b and 588c. The jury made no recommendation that the death penalty be imposed so the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment. Section 588c, supra, provides that the punishment for such violation shall be by imprisonment for not less than ten years, or by death if the jury recommends the latter. The appellate court, in affirming the sentence imposed, stated: In Hankins v. The People, 106 Ill. 628, there was involved the validity of a fine of $250 for a first conviction under a statute providing for a fine of not less than $100 for a first conviction of the crime of keeping a gaming house, and a fine of not less than $500 for subsequent convictions. The Illinois supreme court, though intimating that the minimum fine for a subsequent conviction might furnish an appropriate maximum for the fine provided for a first conviction, upheld the $250 fine, saying: Following the rationale of State v. Maestas, supra, we believe that a person convicted of escape from the state penitentiary shall be sentenced to imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a term of not less than two years and not more than life. Under *686 § 41-17-1, supra, and the philosophy of the Indeterminate Sentence Act, this is necessarily so. It may be stated that the fixing of penalties is a legislative function and what constitutes an adequate punishment is a matter for legislative judgment. The question of whether the punishment for a given crime is too severe and disproportionate to the offense is for the legislature to determine. Territory v. Ketchum, 10 N.M. 718, 65 P. 169, 55 L.R.A. 90; Bailey v. United States, (10 C.C.A. 1934), 74 F.2d 451. It is our view that the legislature intended by § 41-17-1, supra, that an indeterminate sentence be imposed in all cases where a person has been convicted of a felony or other crime punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary. The Indeterminate Sentence Act presupposes a period of probation or parole sometime between the minimum and maximum term. See Annotation, 29 A.L.R.2d 1344; 24B C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 1992-1993. It may not be amiss at this point to discuss briefly the basis of the indeterminate sentence law. Originally, and to some extent even today, the sentencing of convicted persons was characterized as punishment; that is, an exaction of a penalty in retribution for the offense committed. In recent times there has developed a more constructive conception of the role of incarceration. New means of protecting society from the outrages of crime are to be attempted as existing practices have proved ineffective. More than 25 years ago a national committee concluded: 1931 Report of the National Committee on Law Observance and Enforcement, cited in Ellingston, The Youth Authority Program, in Contemporary Correction 125 (Tappan ed. 1951). See also Lewis, The Offender 115 (1917). Thus, in many states, including New Mexico, (§ 41-17-1 et seq., supra), the principles of indeterminate sentence, probation, paroles and pardons, in varying degrees, have been adopted. These advocate a break from the definite and fixed sentence in favor of an indeterminate period of punishment which would be proportioned to the progress of the prisoner toward rehabilitation. This is accomplished by making incarceration and its duration a matter within the discretion of competent parole authorities. In this manner the "punishment" is made to fit the offender rather than the crime. In a discussion on "Setting the Maximum and Minimum Sentence," found in 26 F.R.D. 371, 374, Judge William F. Smith of New Jersey made the following pertinent observations: The Congress of the United States, after long studies and hearings, has authorized the imposition of a minimum and maximum sentence for the United States Courts. 18 U.S.C.A. § 4208(a). For a further discussion on the subject of indeterminate sentence, see Vol. 7, Duke Law Journal, No. 2 (1958); Vol. 10, Western Reserve Law Review, p. 574 (1959); Pilot Institute of Sentencing, 26 F.R.D. 231-378. We might also add that this court has held that where a defendant has allegedly been erroneously sentenced to a term of not less than five years and not more than five years, following a conviction for forgery, instead of not less than one year nor more than five years as provided by statute, and where no appeal was taken from said sentence, that mandamus does not lie to compel the board of parole to treat the sentence as having been for a term as provided by the statute. State Board of Parole v. Lane, 63 N.M. 105, 314 P.2d 602. The question as to whether mandamus is a proper remedy has not been raised in this case and hence will not be decided by us. It follows from what has been said that the judgment appealed from should be reversed and remanded with instructions to the district court to vacate its judgment heretofore entered, and to enter a judgment discharging the peremptory writ of mandamus. It is so ordered. COMPTON, C.J., and NOBLE, J., concur. CARMODY and MOISE, JJ., not participating.