“We need to develop a program to broadcast and publicize the deterrent factor in ways and in places that the criminal element will take notice of,” said Wiseman, the Saipan Rotary Club’s guest speaker yesterday.
Wiseman noted that “99.9 percent” of offenders are not reading newspapers or watching television.
“I have come to realize that the people violating the criminal laws, almost in every case, never knew the severe penalty that they would face under many of our laws if caught and convicted,” the trial court judge said.
“They don’t have the slightest idea of the penalties awaiting them if they are caught and convicted. This is true notwithstanding the fact that federal and state governments, including the CNMI, have many laws that carry harsh penalties, some of which also carry mandatory minimums. The deterrent factor does not work if the people we need to deter do not know about it,” Wiseman stressed.
“The factor of deterrence is what I submit could possibly be the best chance, if used effectively, to substantially reduce the increasing number of crimes being committed,” he said.
Regarding suspended sentences, Wiseman said “in cases of non-violent and non-serious offenders, the interests of society as a whole, as well as individual victims of crime can continue to be served through the imposition of a short jail sentence or probation along with other conditions such as fines, restitution, probation, and community.”
In sentencing an individual, Wiseman said “a judge must consider the protection of the public, the rights and effects of victims and the gravity and nature of the crime, and its consequences. The court must also consider the background and record of the defendant and give serious consideration to the goals of sentencing and assure the ends of justice.”
