Court Opinion

ID: 9520223
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:33:46.395972+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:45:47.945881
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE REARDON, specially concurring: I specially concur in this case so as to record my affirmance of the conviction and my disapproval of the sentence imposed. I agree with the majority opinion which correctly disposes of defendant’s numerous claims of error, with the sole exception as to his claims regarding the sentence which was imposed. Defendant was sentenced to a single term of 70 to 150 years. The statutory law that is applicable to the defendant’s sentence is that which was in effect at the time of the imposition of defendant’s sentence. Pursuant to that law the defendant, before becoming eligible for parole, must serve for a period of 20 years less good time accumulated. If the defendant, during the period of his penitentiary service, accumulates the maximum amount of good time he will be eligible for parole in approximately 9 years. Under these circumstances it seems clear then that a sentence of 70 to 150 years is totally without meaning. It is urged by some, and my colleagues seem to approve, that a sentence such as the one imposed here is an appropriate vehicle to carry a message to the parole authorities. This position completely overlooks the methods available to the trial judge to express his views. Under existing law, which was not in effect at the time of defendant’s sentencing, section 5 — 4—1(c) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 1005 — 4— 1(c)), the trial judge is required to state in the transcript of the sentencing hearing his reasons for imposing the sentence. Under the statute applicable at the time of defendant’s sentencing, the judge could have assigned his reasons by dictating into the sentencing transcript the rationale of his sentence. The trial judge could have joined in the statutorily authorized joint statement of the State’s Attorney and the judge which accompanies the prisoner to the penitentiary, which would have enabled the parole authorities to have the benefit of the judge’s views as to the appropriate period of incarceration before parole should be granted. The tragedy of sentences of the kind imposed here gives substance to the theory that the only purpose of sentence is to punish the offender. This view, in my judgment, is not only a shortsighted one but in effect it violates the spirit and philosophy of our sentencing statutes. The “message to the penitentiary” position undermines the purposes of the sentencing hearing. Literally followed there would be little purpose of engaging in an effort to learn the general moral character of the offender, his mentality, his habits, his social environment, his abnormal or subnormal tendencies, his natural inclination or aversion to commit crime, and the stimuli which motivate his conduct. Sentences, by their very nature, must not only be just but also must be seen to be just. When it is realized that a sentence of this character has no substantial meaning it can only serve to denigrate the entire judicial system. The Illinois Constitution provides that “[a]ll penalties shall be determined both according to the seriousness of the offense and with the objective of restoring the offender to useful citizenship.” (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, §11.) The purposes of the Unified Code of Corrections include the restoration of offenders to useful citizenship and the prescription of criminal sanctions which recognize the rehabilitative potential of individual offenders. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, par. 1001 — 1—2.) The trial judge is thus charged with the often difficult and delicate responsibility of fashioning a sentence which will not only protect the interests of society, but will also allow for the possibility of rehabilitation of the offender. People v. Perruquet (1977), 68 Ill. 2d 149, 368 N.E.2d 882. The examples of “the return of the black sheep to the fold” and the experience of Paul on his way to Damascus are, in my judgment, still viable and meaningful even in our troubled society of today. More pragmatically, to deny to a human being the reward for true contrition and purpose of amendment is a venture into a discipline where judges possess no particular expertise. Still more pragmatically, the enforcement of the doctrine of “abandonment of all hope” upon those sentenced to our penitentiaries will only serve to create behavior problems for those in charge of our penal systems and, finally, such sentences will be deemed by many as mere histrionic responses to a current public clamor adding nothing to the enhancement of our judicial system. I quickly add that, although there is no evidence here to so identify this sentence, the critics of it will not be so discerning.