Opinion ID: 2431503
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the jury shall recommend whether the sentences shall be served concurrently or consecutively. krs 532.055(2).

Text: This statement conflicts with KRS 532.110 and RCr 11.04. Presently the law places responsibility for deciding whether sentences should be served consecutively or concurrently with the judge. The power of the judge to decide the problem of consecutive or concurrent sentencing is an important tool available to the court to prevent disparate sentencing. It will be foreclosed, or at least significantly impaired, by the statutory change. The reason for granting comity to the statute in this instance escapes me. If the effect of this provision in practice proves out to be the effect obviously intended, producing consecutive sentencing, we can anticipate rapid acceleration of the overcrowding that has already occurred in our prisons. We can anticipate extended warehousing of nonviolent criminals. This problem will increase by geometric progression because of § 1 of the new Truth-In-Sentencing law, now codified as KRS 439.3401, which prescribes a future minimum parole eligibility of at least fifty percent (50%) of the sentence imposed for certain Class A and Class B felonies. The time is long overdue for our General Assembly to dump our present unwieldy and unworkable parole system in favor of a new system of penalties which (1) provides for reasonable maximum sentencing limits in the first instance, (2) abolishes parole, and (3) requires those whom the judge does not probate to serve the sentence imposed. [1] It is the parole system more than anything else that has destroyed credibility and public confidence in criminal sentencing. But the Band-Aid approach adopted by the General Assembly will only continue to make matters worse. Of course, it is impossible to discuss the details of a proper sentencing system within the confines of this Dissent. It suffices to say that the changes wrought by the Truth-In-Sentencing law will undoubtedly make matters worse.