Sonya Michelle Pittman

12044-002

FMC Carswell

PO Box 27137

Fort Worth, TX 76127

Dear Potential Supporters,

Hello, my name is Sonya Pittman. I am a forty-eight year old woman, a daughter, a mother, a sister, and a friend. I am also a federal inmate # 12044-002 and Clemency applicant # C284861. I write to you today in hope of gaining advocate support in favor of federal prison sentencing reform. Especially, but not only, regarding mandatory minimums. Mandatory minimum sentencing laws are laws which force a judge to hand down a minimum prison sentence for a certain crime, such as drug possession. Federal judges, who are appointed by the President and by the Senate, have the wisdom and training to identify the most serious drug offenders and issue the appropriate sentencing. They should not be prevented from lowering sentences in cases where extenuating circumstances should lessen the punishment. Yet time and again because of these draconian laws sentencing discretion is taken away from our esteemed federal judges. Regarding my actual offense, please allow me to begin by saying, I fully accept responsibility for engaging in unlawful activities and for no reason do I feel my behavior should be excused. It is the amount of time I received that I feel to be in excess, conseidering my crime and circumstances. Similar opinions are shared by many citizens in our country; non-violent offenders, many of which need alternative methods of treatment or punishment,