Prosecutors shouldn't waste court's time seeking natural life for Michael Jones

DuPage prosecutors are worried. They're in court Monday seeking an extended sentence for Michael Jones if he's convicted of the 1985 rape and murder of teen Kathy Wesselman of Glen Ellyn. Under sentencing laws of 1985, Jones could be sentenced for up to 80 years for murder and assault, also making him eligible for parole after serving half his sentence. That would allow Jones, if he behaves in the pokey, to seek release when he's 104 years old. To combat this imagined threat to the public and miscarriage of justice, Jones' prosecutors will ask the court to invoke another sentencing provision that allows extension to natural life for a crime "accompanied by exceptional brutal and heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty."

Sentences of natural life, like the death penalty, do nothing to protect the public and serve justice. They amount to prosecutorial grandstanding to display their tough on crime bonafides to the public. Seeking natural life for a man eligible for parole at 104 is almost certainly moot. For anyone no longer a threat to society it wastes precious prison resources. It removes an incentive for prisoners to behave, further squandering precious prison costs. Time off for model behavior should be available to every prisoner, regardless the heinousness of the crime. Parole can always be denied in the case of truly evil, antisocial folks like Charlie Manson.

DuPage prosecutors should not waste one minute of Judge George Bakalis' time on this sentencing issue. They should spend every minute making sure Jones, if guilty, is convicted and required to sit till at least age a century plus four.