Dear Editor,

The press has been filled in recent times with arguments for and against the issue of mandatory minimum jail times for people convicted of murder. The Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck is for the mandatory minimum while defence attorneys are opposed to the idea of same.

The minister’s argument stands on the premise that longer/stronger penalties will act as a deterrence to criminals. Defence attorneys, on the other hand, believe that mandatory minimums will further clog the court system. This as accused people may choose to go to trial rather than plead guilty to get a reduced sentence if there is mandatory minimum sentencing in place.

It is undeniable that Jamaica has been suffering from a crime epidemic with devastating symptoms. The symptoms have resulted in 25 children losing their lives due to murder across the island since the start of 2023. The public has gone one step further, not to ask for a mandatory minimum but to ask for hanging, especially of child murderers. This comes as a result of the frequency with which children are being brutally murdered. The latest incident of crime against children was the murder of two nine-year-old boys who were shot and killed in a vehicle by men armed with hi-powered weapons in Salt Spring, St James.

The public is furious at the notion of criminals being able to afford expensive King’s Counsels, then plead guilty to get discounted sentences, and in short order are able to carry on their lives. Meanwhile, the family of the victims are left to forever mourn the senseless loss of their loved ones.

It is not impossible to reduce crime, other countries have done it. One such country is El Salvador. Prime Minister Andrew Holness, while speaking at a post-Cabinet media briefing recently, spoke about the difference between Jamaica’s justice system and that of El Salvador’s.

He mentioned that El Salvador was able to drastically reduce their crime rate, from the highest in the region to the lowest in the region, due to their constitutional arrangements and jurisprudence. Despite the difference, we desperately need to find a way outside of the Band-Aid-fix state of emergency (SOE), which gives a needle in a hay stack result to crime.

The triple killings, quadruple killings, and the killing of even a 10-month-old child should touch the heartstrings of every attorney-at-law.

Now, while all crimes are not the same and countries have their differences, the murder of a child cannot be just a statistic. It must be evident to the police, lawyer, teacher, vendor, etc that Jamaica is strongly against murders, especially that of a child.

If our laws need to be changed to facilitate the necessary actions to reduce crime, political representatives on both sides should cut out the finger-pointing and deal seriously with tackling crime.

Hezekan Bolton

h_e_z_e@hotmail.com