"I am unalterably opposed to the system of mandatory minimums. I think we need to give this authority back to the judges.” – General Barry McCaffrey, former U.S. drug czar, USMA Graduate

Home

Under California's strict mandatory minimum sentencing laws, US Army Captain Sargent Binkley is facing at least 12 years in state prison. If you know Sargent and/or are opposed to mandatory minimum sentencing, please read the following. You can help.

Update 5/13 We are currently waiting for a medical report to arrive in mid-May - when that arrives Sargent's Santa Clara trial date will be set. The San Mateo court date is set for September 29th. This delay gives us more time to push the county DAs to take a settlement. Your letters and phone calls are helping - keep them coming!
This text is replaced by the Flash movie.

Spread the video, spread the word!

Sargent Binkley committed two robberies in 2006. These crimes were desperate attempts to obtain the painkillers he became addicted to after sustaining injuries while serving abroad. These injuries were repeatedly misdiagnosed and mistreated by the military medical system, resulting in Sargent’s downward spiral of addiction. He harmed no-one, took no money, and turned himself in. Under California’s minimum sentencing law, no judge can commute his sentence to one more in proportion to his crime. Sargent has been in jail for over a year and a half and faces final sentencing soon in Santa Clara County.

We support the elimination of California's excessive mandatory minimum sentencing laws, which give the power usually reserved to judges over to District Attorneys. But changing the law takes time that Sargent Binkley doesn't have. Public pressure is the only thing that may cause the respective District Attorneys to reconsider; please help us in this fight by writing a letter or making a phone call as soon as you can. Two minutes of your time can help persuade District Attorneys Deborah Medved and Steve Wagstaffe to apply a more equitable and appropriate sentence, and obtain justice for Sargent Binkley.

Two documents describing the details of Sargent's case are now available for download.

administrator – September 9, 2007 – 1:54pm