Mandatory minimum sentences for first-time drug offenders are unfair, according to Mike Short, whose 19-year sentence President Bush recently commuted.
Short spoke Thursday about his experience with the judicial system during a Justice Not Jails event in Mary Graydon Center.
Short said that after he graduated from high school in Maryland, a jury convicted him at age 21 for distributing of 63 grams of crack, a refined version of cocaine. Officials released him from prison Dec. 18 after he served 15 years and eight months of a 19-year sentence.
He said the sentences some drug abusers receive are too harsh.
"We broke the law," he said. "We should go to jail. But for life?"
Short said he was convicted based on two informants' testimony, rather than any physical evidence. One of the people who testified against Short had his sentence reduced to six years, but was later incarcerated multiple times.
Prosecutors often offer reduced sentences to those who testify against their peers, Short said.
Lies can sentence someone to jail for life, he said.
Short said officials offered him a shorter sentence if he testified against associates, but he refused.
"I just don't believe in telling," he said. "I'm not going to ruin someone else's life just because I sold drugs."
Short said he was on the varsity basketball team in high school and got involved in drug dealer-hosted games despite coming from a good family background.
"Drug dealing is so easy," he said. "There is no right way to do wrong."
While in jail, Short said his mother and nine other family members died. He said he spent his time earning an associate's degree in business management and several fitness certifications. He now works at a Bally Total Fitness location.
Longer sentences do not prove a point, according to Short. What people do once they get out of prison is up to the individual.
"You can become a better criminal if you choose to in prison," he said.
People who choose this path will not learn a lesson, Short said. Even though he was bitter about his sentence, Short said he wouldn't let his surroundings make him evil.
"I think I'm a nice guy," he said.
Justice Not Jails, the group that sponsored the event, works to inform the AU community about the reality of incarceration and mobilize people to work for change and support incarcerated people and their families, according to Ava Page, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and College of Arts and Sciences who is a member of the group.
People are uninformed about prison justice, said Rae Bonfanti, a junior in the School of International Service.
"A lot of people are concerned with international human rights when there's so much going on right here that people are unaware of," she said.
During the event, Justice Not Jails also showed "Snitch," a documentary about people who were convicted solely on the testimony of informants and individuals coerced into informing on their friends after receiving threats of life sentences and harm to their families.
