Missouri deserves more protection from repeat offenders | Opinion

If justice were swift and certain, what happened in Christian County should never have happened. When violent, repeat offenders are kept behind bars, deputies go home to their families. The murder of two Missouri law enforcement officers and the serious wounding of two others was not simply an unforeseeable act of evil, it was the failure of a system that too often releases dangerous criminals back onto our streets.

On Feb. 23, Deputy Gabriel Ramirez was killed in the line of duty after a traffic stop turned into a tragedy. Just hours later, Deputy Michael Hislope, fighting to protect his community and bring justice on behalf of his fallen brother, also died at the hands of Richard Bird.

The grief of losing a loved one never goes away. It is a relentless tide and an unwelcome shadow. But there is a particular cruelty in grieving when the person responsible never should have been walking the streets. Families are left carrying a loss that could have been prevented, knowing that a dangerous, repeat offender was released back into the community instead of kept behind bars where he belonged. Loss hurts, but preventable injustice makes it burn even deeper.

As the attorney general for the state of Missouri, it is my responsibility to pursue justice with care and resolve. Above all else, we must have effective laws that protect our state’s residents. If not for the fallen officers who laid down their lives out of love for their communities, we must make a change for the loved ones left behind in everlasting grief.

Without transparency and certainty in sentencing, justice feels like a promise spoken but never kept. We need a system where dangerous, repeat offenders are not set free after serving only a small percentage of their sentence, only to commit more violence. We need accountability that cannot be negotiated away.

Since taking office, I’ve met with law enforcement, prosecutors, members of the judiciary, corrections officials and stakeholders across Missouri who are demanding certainty and transparency in criminal sentencing. Too many times, repeat offenders return over and over again to harm the same communities.

Sentencing today too often resembles prosecutors, judges and juries throwing darts at the wall, hoping that the time imposed will translate into meaningful time served. The result is perverse for everyone involved. Prosecutors and judges are forced to artificially inflate sentences and make “best guesses” to ensure that dangerous offenders remain behind bars. Victims are left in the dark. Law enforcement is left exposed.

Releasing repeat offenders without consistency and allowing them out on a modest bond weakens deterrence, erodes public trust and endangers the very officers sworn to protect us from preventable crimes.

Missouri families deserve better. Our law enforcement officers deserve better. And the memory of Deputies Ramirez and Hislope demands better.

Catherine Hanaway is attorney general of Missouri.