What is a persistent felony offender? The law fueling Kentucky's huge incarceration rate - Yahoo News
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky law that's been on the books for more than four decades has added years of prison time to the sentences of tens of thousands of people.
It's called the persistent felony offender law — or PFO for those who know of it.
Prosecutors hail it as a necessary tool to keep communities safe and enable stiffer punishments for people who continue to break the law.
Locked away: This Kentucky law destroyed his family. Now a son wants to break the cycle for others.
Defense attorneys, the man who wrote the law and people who've faced it say it is being used unfairly and has helped fuel Kentucky's incarceration rate, which is among the highest in the nation.
The Courier Journal, in partnership with the Vera Institute of Justice and the Public Broadcasting Services' "Independent Lens," spent months investigating the scope of the law's reach and its devastating impact on families across the commonwealth.
Read the full series by subscribing to The Courier Journal.
Here's what you need to know about Kentucky's PFO law:
How the Kentucky PFO law started
The persistent felony offender law went into effect in 1974, as part of a complete revision of the criminal code.
The law was designed for "extraordinary use," its original author said. It only applied to adults who had two previous felony convictions that resulted in actual time spent in prison — no suspended sentences or probation.
That version of the law didn't last for long.
How PFO has changed since its inception
In 1976, lawmakers greatly expanded it, with huge repercussions on Kentucky's prison populations.
They created the category of second-degree persistent felony offender, which meant someone could face the law's harsher punishment after just one conviction. And they removed the requirement that someone must serve prison time to later be eligible for a PFO charge.
source: https://news.yahoo.com/persistent-felony-offender-law-fueling-120859323.html
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.