By Stephanie Schaerr
Lori''s Law, which passed on Monday, March 20, 2006, allowed Utah to join several other states across the nation in increasing the minimum sentence for murderers. But the law will not necessarily change the amount of jail time a convict receives.
Under Utah''s current system of indeterminate sentencing, judges give sentences within a range of time and the Board of Pardons and Parole decides exactly how long the convict will stay in jail.
Though the law does not change Utah''s system of sentencing, it does correct a perception problem, said the bill''s sponsor, Rep. Lorie Fowlke, R-Orem, who is a BYU graduate, an attorney and a former police officer.
'We wanted to send the message that in Utah, murderers don''t get off scot-free,' she said.
Named for Lori Hacking, whose husband killed her while she slept in her Salt Lake City home in 2004, the law raised the minimum sentence for first-degree federal murder convictions from five to 15 years.
When Hacking''s parents heard the judge in their daughter''s murder trial sentence her killer to five years to life, it was like the justice system was saying their daughter''s life is only worth that much, Fowlke said.
'All they hear is a minimum of five years,' Fowlke said. 'It''s a perception problem.'
Now, when a judge calls out the minimum sentence, the victim''s family will hear 15 years instead of five.
'It''s a little less traumatizing to them,' Fowlke said.
The law also says the Board of Pardons and Parole must consider whether a prisoner seeking parole was in a position of trust to their victim, like a husband or parent, when they committed the crime.
Indeterminate sentencing actually allows harsher sentences for criminals, Fowlke said, and she has no desire to change that system.
'The reality has been that few murderers are released in less than 20 years,' she said.
Lori Hacking''s father, Eraldo Soares, worked tirelessly with the prosecutor''s office and with Fowlke to get the bill passed. He and Lori''s mother were present when Gov. Jon Huntsman signed the bill into law on Monday.
Indeterminate sentencing is not common in other states across the country, Fowkle said.
The bill passed unanimously in both the state Senate and the House during their recent sessions, according to the legislature''s Web site. The bill''s supporters included the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, Utah Sentencing Commission, Law Enforcement Legislative Committee and Utah Council on Victims of Crime.
The law was a unique one for Utah''s legislators.
'Usually we don''t name laws for people,' Rep. Fowlke said.
'But this was such an extraordinary case, we did.'
(For comments, e-mail Stephanie Schaerr at smschaerr@byu.net)