SC: Imprisonment beyond maximum is cruel, inhumane

Imprisonment beyond the maximum imposable penalty is cruel, inhumane, and is an assault of the dignity and person of detainees, the Supreme Court (SC) said.

The SC issued the remark as it affirmed the conviction of a woman due to qualified theft but ordered her immediate release after lowering her sentence.

“The power of the courts to commit prisoners carries with it the duty to immediately release them in case of detention for a period equivalent or longer than the maximum imposable penalty,” it said in a 12-page decision.

“Any prolonged imprisonment is not only  cruel and inhumane but is also a ‘second-by-second assault on the soul, a day-to-day degradation of the dignity and person of the detainees,” it added.

According to the SC, the woman was sentenced to reclusion perpetua, or at least 30 years, and was committed to the Correctional Institution for Women in 2011.

In 2014, the Court of Appeals affirmed her conviction, prompting the present petition before the High Court.

The SC, however, lowered her sentence to prison mayor or up to 10 years and eight months, noting that the woman had stolen did not exceed P600,000.

The woman has served almost 12 years after she was detained in November 2011.

The SC cited the Nelson Mandela Rules, which provide that “purpose of a sentence of imprisonment or similar measures deprivative of a person’s liberty are primarily to protect society against crime and to reduce recidivism. Those purposes can be achieved only if the period of imprisonment is used to ensure, so far as possible, the reintegration of such persons into society upon release so they can lead a law-abiding and self-supporting life.”

“Hence, [she] must now be set free and any further delay is nothing but unjust.

The decision, penned by Associate Justice Mario Lopez, was promulgated in March 2023 but made public on Wednesday. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News