Court Opinion

ID: 9774070
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:08:03.700877+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:01.601269
License: Public Domain

LEIBSON, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in this Opinion as a correct statement of the law. The punishment assessed to Katherine Amy Brown falls short of a violation of the federal and state constitutional prohibitions against cruel and inhuman punishment. Therefore, the question of permissible punishment is a political question for the General Assembly with which this Court cannot interfere.
Nevertheless, the facts of this case merit serious consideration. Ms. Brown has been sentenced to ten years without parole for an insignificant property offense; she was found guilty of theft by deception because she shoplifted two shirts with a retail value of $111.49 which she then returned to the store clerk for credit.
While she deserves to be punished as a felon for this offense, particularly in view of her past record, I believe most criminologists, and the general public, would agree that the punishment meted out here, as required by statute, is disproportionate to the offense and damaging to the criminal justice system. Further, I seriously doubt the General Assembly can justify the expense involved in locking up Ms. Brown for ten years as punishment for the offense involved.
The persistent felony offender statute needs to be changed as it relates to nonviolent offenders. The General Assembly should address this problem.
COMBS, J., joins this concurring opinion.