U.S. Senator Rand Paul on Tuesday laid out some of his thoughts on justice reform — specifically on issues such as redefining what is considered a violent crime, prison sentences, marijuana, and juvenile offenders.
Paul made a stop in Owensboro, where he met with a handful of law enforcement officials from across the area. The event was hosted at former Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain’s residence. Paul has endorsements of sheriffs from 20 counties across the Commonwealth, including Daviess, McLean, and Henderson. He was also recently endorsed by the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police.
During his remarks, Paul largely focused on violent crimes and prison sentences.
“I think one of the things that we have to do and have to think about is that when people are convicted of committing violent crimes, they need to serve time in prison,” he said.
Paul pointed to a recent example in Louisville, saying someone fired eight shots at a mayoral candidate but missed with each shot.
“We’re told that because they missed, it’s considered to be a non-violent crime,” Paul said.
He noted that means if the suspect is convicted of a non-violent crime, they are eligible for parole after serving as little as 20% of their sentence. A violent offender must serve 85% of a sentence.
“So that’s why I’ve been talking to a lot of our state legislators about looking at the list of violent crimes and making sure that just because you miss doesn’t make it a non-violent crime,” Paul said. “We really have to reassess what we’re doing with violent crime.”
In answering questions from the media, Paul also addressed sentences for non-violent criminals.
When it pertains to drug use Paul said, “It is my personal belief that people who are users or get caught using it, there ought to be a second chance. I think a lot of kids make mistakes. I think drugs are bad for kids. I think even marijuana is bad, but I don’t want to put somebody in jail for 20 years for marijuana.”
Paul said there’s been progress in criminal justice reform, but there’s still work to be done on finding the right balance of making the punishment fit the crime.
“I think you could be for both — reasonable sentencing for non-violent things, and more sentencing for those who are violent,” Paul said.
Paul spoke further on marijuana, saying it should be left up to each state to make laws regarding its legality. He noted that more than 30 states allow at least medicinal marijuana and more than a dozen allow its recreational use.
“I think those states should be allowed to do that and that the federal government shouldn’t interfere with the states,” he said. “I don’t know that there has to be a national movement other than to look at maybe making things reasonable.”
Paul said as far as federal marijuana crimes, “they tell me there aren’t that many people in jail for possession, but if there are people in jail for possession that have served long sentences, I think I would consider looking at those. But I think you have to look at the circumstances and see what the circumstances are.”
The Senator also briefly addressed juvenile crime, though he said that’s primarily a state issue and deferred to local law enforcement for their thoughts.
Paul acknowledged some people start committing minor crimes as young as 14, and they become repeat offenders with increasing levels of severity by the time they are 18.
“My guess is (law enforcement officers) see people at 18 or 19 who they saw as juveniles and it’s all still hidden, but they knew they were rotten and committing minor crimes between 14 and 18,” Paul said.
Paul then asked Cain for his thoughts on the issue. Cain said there’s been a rise in violent juvenile crime, adding that he thinks “any prudent individual, whether they wear a badge or not, would agree that these people have to be held accountable regardless of their age.”
Current Daviess County Sheriff Barry Smith also acknowledged an influx of juvenile offenders locally.
“I think we have to do something before they get to the level of violence that the Senator spoke of. If they’re in possession of handguns, we have to address those before they get to the point where they’re out here shooting and so forth,” Smith said. “I think there’s a lot of work to be done to rehabilitate these juvenile offenders at an early age before they get to the violent offenses.”
Paul wrapped up by saying while he supports gun rights, those rights should be forfeited when someone is convicted of violent crimes.
“Sure I am (pro-gun), until you’re committing a crime,” he said. “Those committing a crime should go to jail and have their gun rights taken away from them. That’s the other reason to prosecute this. If you’re going down the road shooting into houses, convict them of a felony and they won’t have any gun rights anymore. I’m all for taking away gun rights from convicted felons, but you’ve got to convict them of something.”
